A Flower in the Eyes of Another
by Karania Avalon
Summary: Arinia, the girlfriend of Mark of Team Aqua was captured by Team Magma to be used as a pawn in their plan. Team Magma doesn't treat people tied to Team Aqua nicely, so will Arinia survive or will Maxie of Team Magma kill her once she's played her part? N
1. Hide and Seek

A Flower in the Eyes of Another Chapter 1 "Hide and Seek" 

"Arinia, where are you?  I'm coming to find you!"

That was Mark, Arinia's boyfriend, they were currently playing a game of hide and seek with Mark's teammates from Team Aqua and at the moment Arinia was the target since Mark had already found all the others.  Unknown to Mark, Arinia was well hidden between 4 big rocks, and unless Mark looked right down on top of her she wasn't visible. 

This continued for another fifteen minutes before Mark said, "Okay Arinia, I give up where are you?"

Arinia now stood up from her hiding place and Mark laughed since where she had hidden herself had been the last place he'd have thought to look.

"Geez Arinia, I looked everywhere……..  You really outsmarted me!"  Mark took Arinia in his arms and hugged her then he leaned her back a little and kissed her passionately.

Mark's teammates now walked up and saw Mark loving on his girlfriend, "Aw…….  She's so cute!"  One member said.

"She sure is."  Another member said.

"Yeah, and she was the only one who managed to get through the game without being caught."  Another member chimed in.

"Yup, that's what makes her so special."  Mark said, kissing Arinia again.

Arinia now smiled, and continued to let Mark hold her.

"Mark, do you think Arinia should be in our team?"  A grunt asked Mark.

Mark looked surprised, "I've asked her and she said she'd think on it, but if she does end up wanting to is another story and I don't want to pressure her into it if that's not what she wants to do.  Thought truth be told, I would love to have her in my group."  Mark said holding Arinia tighter.

Arinia smiled at Mark but didn't answer.  Just then some Team Magma members crested the top of the hill and charged the Team Aqua members.

"Mark!"  Arinia cried when she saw them.

"What is it, Arinia?"  Mark asked.

"Look!"  Arinia pointed in the direction the Team Magma members were coming from.

Mark's eyes widened in horror when he saw them, "Oh no……."  Mark released Arinia from his grasp, "Arinia, I want you to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction, I'm sure that if they find you here that they will capture you and take you back to their boss for a hefty reward since you're a friend of ours and they don't treat people tied to Team Aqua nicely."

Arinia nodded and started running in the opposite direction.  The Team Magma members now reached the clearing where Arinia had been standing with Mark and his friends a few minutes ago and most of them formed a circle around them drawing poke balls for battle while the rest consisting of about eight members, three Admins and five grunts started to pursue Arinia since they thought that she was a target of interest since she was a friend of Team Aqua.  Arinia ran for about another twenty minutes, up another three or four hills and across an open plain before her ankle gave out on her and she fell to the ground.  The Team Magma members took this to their advantage and managed to recover some ground that they had lost since she had a head start on them when they had arrived on the scene.  Arinia climbed back to her feet, but her ankle gave out on her again and Arinia realized that she had badly sprained it.

"Oh no……..  I've sprained my ankle and Team Magma is about to catch me!"  Arinia thought almost panic ridden.

Arinia got to her feet again and tried to run, but at that moment the Team Magma members caught up to her and surrounded her.  Two grunts now stepped forward and seized Arinia's arms and held her tightly so that the Admins could get a good look at her.  Arinia struggled, trying to get loose, but that proved to be impossible since they were holding her too tight and the only thing that accomplished was getting them to laugh at her and her feeble attempt to escape from them.

"Nice try girl, but you're not getting away!"  An Admin jeered at her.  The Admin now seized her chin and made her look him in the eyes.  Then he said, "Yes, she'll do perfectly for the plan our boss needs a girl for.  We're taking her to Maxie!"

Arinia lowered her head, knowing that she was now their prisoner and that her only hope lay with Mark and his teammates.  Another Admin now took out a bottle of chloroform and a rag and poured some chloroform onto the rag before he held the rag over Arinia's face so that she would inhale it in and become sleepy.  Arinia tried to hold her breath for as long as she could, but her attempt gave out since she took a breath after holding it for twenty-five seconds and when she did she got a full whiff of the drug on the cloth and it began to make her head swim.  The Admin now laughed and held the drug closer to her.  Arinia's head continued to swim and her knees buckled under her and she fell to the ground.  The Admin continued to hold it over her mouth and nose and about three minutes later Arinia passed out.  Once she'd passed out, the Admin removed the rag from her face and laughed.  The grunts holding her now released her and another Admin scooped her up into his arms.

"Good, we take her to Maxie now!"  The Admin, who had drugged her said.

The other grunts and Admins nodded and they began walking up another hill and over to where their plane was hidden and boarded it.  Once aboard, the grunts walked to take seats near the center of the plane and the Admin carrying Arinia carried her over to a seat and set her down and buckled her in.  Then he took the seat beside her so that he could keep a close eye on her so that she couldn't escape.

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Back in the clearing, Mark and his teammates had beaten all the Team Magma members, and they had run off towards their plane.  Mark and his teammates pursued them, since they were pretty sure that Arinia had been caught by the members who had pursued her. 

They reached the clearing where the Team Magma plane was hidden and an Admin laughed, "Ha!  You want your little friend, but we won't give her back!"

Mark and his teammates looked terrified since Arinia didn't deserve to be a prisoner at the hands of Team Magma.  The Admin now ran up the steps to the plane and slammed the door, and a moment or two later their plane began to rise up into the air taking Arinia with them.  The only thing Mark and his teammates could do was watch in horror as Arinia was taken away from them in a form of transportation that they couldn't easily follow.  The only thing they could do was report to their boss and then try to locate Arinia's exact location, but that in itself would take some time and for Arinia that time spent might mean that they would be too late to save her since Maxie might kill her as punishment for being a friend to Team Aqua. 


	2. At the Hands of Enemies

Chapter 2 "At the Hands of the Enemy" 

Up in the Team Magma plane, Arinia was so out of it that she wasn't even aware that her enemy was sitting beside her watching her every move.

Just then a Team Magma General walked over and looked at Arinia, "Any chance of her regaining consciousness anytime soon?" 

"I doubt it.  She got a heavy dose of chloroform so it might be an hour or more until she wakes up."  The Admin replied.

"Good."  The General ruffled Arinia's hair.  "It's too bad that this little girl had to be captured by us, if she had stayed away from Team Aqua then this wouldn't have been necessary."

"I think that one of the Team Aqua members loves her."  The Admin replied.  "I saw one holding her and I think he was the one who told her to run.  The fool!  No girl can outrun me or anyone in our team!"

The General nodded, "Yeah, true, but one thing's for sure the boss is going to reward us handsomely for bringing him a little girl for his plan."

The Admin touched Arinia's face, "She looks so young…..  Why'd she have to choose to be a friend to Team Aqua and not us?  If she had chosen us instead then this wouldn't have been necessary like you said.

The General nodded, "True, though I think it was love that made her choose the other side, but that won't be enough now that she's in our hands.  It's now up to our boss whether she lives or dies."

Arinia shifted in her sleep and both the Admin and the General looked at her in interest.

"Well, it appears that she's going to be okay."  The General said.

"Yeah, the boss'll be happy to hear that."  The Admin said.

Arinia shivered and the General looked shocked, "Aw…… The poor thing's cold……  Here let me get her a blanket."  The General went to get a blanket for Arinia and he returned with it in a few minutes and when he did he gently wrapped Arinia in it and once he did so Arinia stopped shivering.  "That's better……  I know she's our captive but there's nothing set in stone that says that we can't take good care of her.  If the boss says otherwise then it's another story entirely."

"Exactly."  The Admin replied.

Arinia continued to sleep in a rather fitful sleep since her body was fighting the chloroform trying to wake her up since she deserved to have a chance to defend herself from her captors. 

"Keep a close watch on her, and let me know when she wakes up."  The General said looking at Arinia once more before he stroked her hair again.

"Yes, sir!  Oh and by the way, where do you think Maxie will hold her until he needs her for his plan?"  The Admin asked.

"Hmm…….  I'm guessing that Maxie will keep her in a nice locked cell until the time comes for her part in his plan."  The General replied.

Arinia shifted again and moaned a little in her sleep and the Admin looked at her, "She seems to be waking up…….  How's that possible!?  With the amount of chloroform she was given I would have expected her to sleep for almost a complete hour."

"Well she can't wake up, that would ruin everything…….  I'll get a sleep potion to put her back to sleep."  The General said walking off to get the potion.

Arinia now opened her eyes and asked, "Mark?"

"I'm not Mark, honey, and you're now a prisoner and you're in a tough spot since we don't treat people tied to Team Aqua nicely, and on top of that, you can't escape us since you're flying with us in our plane and unless you can take out everyone here including me, you're trapped."

Fear glittered in Arinia's eyes since she now knew that she was a prisoner at the hands of Team Magma and the Admin just looked at her.  Just then the General returned with the potion and the Admin seized Arinia and unbuckled her and then positioned her so that her head was in his lap.  Then he forced her mouth open and the General stepped forward and poured the potion down her throat.  Arinia struggled as much as she could, but the Admin was way stronger than her and was able to easily subdue her as they forced her to take the sleep potion.  Once the potion had been poured down Arinia's throat, the Admin now buckled her back into her seat and the General covered her up with the blanket again.  Arinia looked shocked that at least one of them was caring for her somewhat.

"Don't get any ideas, girl, I don't have any sympathy for you so don't even go there."  The General said looking at Arinia grinning evilly.

Arinia lowered her head and tried not to cry, but that proved to be the hardest thing she ever had to do since she really wanted Mark at this moment.

"You want your lover, don't you?"  The Admin asked her.

Arinia nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek.  The Admin and the General both laughed at her since they weren't about to comfort her since she was a friend of Team Aqua and they could've care less whether her relationship with Mark ever worked out.

"The potion should be kicking in now and she should be dropping off soon."  The General said grinning evilly.

As if to prove him right, Arinia yawned and the General smiled.  "Yup, it's working now.  Sweet dreams, child."

Arinia's eyes fluttered shut as she tried to fight the potion, but that proved to be futile since about five minutes later the potion completely overpowered her and made her slip back into a deep sleep.

"Good, she's asleep now, we won't have to worry about her trying to escape."  The Admin said grinning at Arinia's sleeping form.

"Right, now keep a close eye on her, though I doubt that we'll have any trouble from this little thing."   The General said also looking at Arinia's sleeping form.

"Yes sir!  I'll do that."  The Admin replied.

The General now walked away back to his seat and the Admin continued to keep a close eye on poor little Arinia.  About four hours later, the plane began to descend as they landed atop their base building.  Arinia was still sleeping when they landed so the Admin unbuckled her and lifted her into his arms while keeping her carefully wrapped in the blanket.  The Admin carried her out of the plane and into their base and once he did so he saw the General again.

"She's still breathing, correct?"  The General asked, clearly wanting to make sure that their little prisoner was still in good health after being given the potion several hours earlier.

The Admin held her so that he could listen for a heartbeat and when he heard one he said, "Yes, she's still alive, she's only asleep, she'll be perfectly fine whenever she finally wakes up again."

"Good.  Come on let's go show Maxie that we brought him a little girl for his plan."  The General said starting to walk towards Maxie's office.

The Admin nodded and followed him to Maxie's office.  When they reached his office, the General knocked on the door to Maxie's office.

"Come in."  A voice called from within the office.

The General now opened the door and walked inside with the Admin following closely behind him carrying little Arinia and when they did the Admin carried Arinia over to Maxie.

Maxie looked surprised as he looked at the little girl, "A girl?  You caught one!?  Good work!  Now go put her in a nice cell and make sure that she doesn't freeze since she has a big part to play in my plan."

The Admin nodded and started to leave the room when Maxie said, "Make sure that you tuck her into the bed in her cell so she'll stay warm."

"Yes sir, I will do that."  The Admin replied. 

He now left the room and went to put Arinia in the cell that Maxie had designated for her.  A few minutes later, the Admin reached the cell Maxie had wanted him to put little Arinia in.  The Admin opened the door to the cell and carried Arinia into it, and when he did he pulled the covers on the small bed back before he set Arinia on the bed and unwrapped her from the blanket.  Then he set the blanket on the bed and moved Arinia into her bed and placed her under the covers gently laying her head back into her pillow.  He now tucked her in and covered her with the blanket again so that he could be sure that she wouldn't get cold.  The Admin turned to leave her when Arinia started to stir.

"Mmmm, where am I?"  Arinia asked sleepily.

The Admin turned around, "In a cell, and you'll be held here until the time comes for your part in the boss' plan."

Arinia shook her head quickly and the Admin laughed, "Ha!  You don't want to, but you won't have a choice!  You'd better do it or the boss might kill you when he no longer has any need for you."

Arinia looked scared, "That's right, be very afraid, I told you that we don't treat people tied to Team Aqua nicely!"

The Admin now turned to leave, and Arinia closed her eyes and began seeing all of the fun times she and Mark had shared together.  Still thinking on this, Arinia started to cry since she wanted to be where Mark was more than anything, but as a prisoner at the hands of Team Magma that wouldn't happen since they didn't care what she thought or what she felt as long as their plan succeeded.  The Admin now left her, locking her in as he went.  Arinia heard him close the door and heard a click that signified that he had locked her in.  Arinia looked up and saw that the door was now locked shut, Arinia began to get very afraid when she found this out since she wasn't especially fond of enclosed spaces.  Though after a minute or two Arinia tried to calm down since she figured that getting all worked up over something she couldn't change wasn't worth it since she was sure that Mark was going to do his best to save her from Team Magma.  With that thought in mind that she still had hope of rescue, Arinia closed her eyes again and went back to sleep.


	3. The Plan is Revealed

Chapter 3 

"The Plan is Revealed"

Mark looked stunned once Team Magma had succeeded in taking his girlfriend away that he sank to the ground and cried for a minute at the outset since he never wanted to lose Arinia to Team Magma for any reason.

Mark cried for a minute before he pulled himself back together, then he said, "Okay! We have to get her back! Who's with me?"

"We're right behind you!" Mark's grunts exclaimed.

"Thanks guys, I knew I could count on you to get my girlfriend back." Mark said.

"No problem, now shouldn't we report this to Archie? He might have some idea where they took her." A grunt suggested.

"Yes, we should……… If anyone will know where they took her, he will." Mark said.

Mark and his teammates now began walking back to their base.

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Meanwhile back in the Team Magma base, Arinia was still sleeping when the Admin came back to her cell with some food. The Admin unlocked her cell and entered and came over to Arinia and shook her awake. Arinia woke with a jolt and pulled away from him scared that he would hurt her.

"Relax, I won't hurt you, I only have some food for you." The Admin said trying to reassure her holding out the bowl of rice to her and gave her a spoon.

Arinia took the bowl and the spoon from him and the Admin held her drink while she ate.

"I hope he won't poison me…….." Arinia thought while she ate.

Arinia finished her meal of rice and the Admin took the bowl and spoon from her and handed her the drink that unknown to her contained a tasteless sleep potion. Arinia looked at the drink and sniffed the liquid and couldn't detect anything amiss so she drank it, and as soon as she finished it she began to get drowsy.

"You fool!" The Admin laughed. "Your drink contained a tasteless sleep potion! You'll sleep for twelve hours now and by the time you wake up our plan and your use will be complete!"

"What does that mean?" Arinia asked.

"Well, since you can't do anything to stop us, I'll tell you. It means that while you're sleeping the boss is going to offer you to Groudon to get it to grant a wish of his." The Admin replied.

"Offer me!?" Arinia exclaimed alarmed.

The Admin laughed, "Yes, offer you. The prophecy said that Groudon would grant anyone one wish if they offered him a young girl in exchange."

"That's crazy!" Arinia shot back.

The Admin laughed, "Crazy or not you can't do anything about it since your fate is to sleep for twelve hours and when you wake up you'll be an offering to Groudon!"

Arinia now yawned and laid back down and the door to her cell opened and a carriable bed was carried into her cell by some grunts and they set it on the ground before they seized Arinia and moved her into it despite her protests. Arinia tried to get free, but the Admin held her to the little bed until the sleep potion overpowered her and she slipped into sleep; then he removed his hand and tucked her in. Now that she was asleep, the grunts lifted the bed up and carried it out of her cell and carried it through their base and outside and loaded it into their van. Then the grunts piled into the back around Arinia's bed so that they could guard her, not they needed to since she was sound asleep and wouldn't awaken for many hours. Now that everything was in place, the van started to move taking everyone to the place where Arinia would be offered to Groudon to make Maxie's wish a reality.

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Mark and his teammates ran back to their base, hoping that Archie would know where Arinia had been taken.

Mark and his teammates arrived at base soon afterward and Mark hurried to tell his boss that Team Magma had captured Arinia and had taken her away for some reason that Mark didn't totally comprehend. All Mark could do now was speak to his boss and see if he had any suggestions to offer that might help find Arinia.


	4. The Plan is Fulfilled

Chapter 4 

Mark walked down several halls within the Team Aqua base to his boss' office and when he finally reached it, he knocked.

"Come in." A voice called from within the room.

Mark now reached out his hand and turned the doorknob and entered Archie's office.

When Archie saw Mark, he immediately began expecting for little Arinia to be hanging back behind Mark like she usually did when Mark brought her into their base. This time however, Arinia wasn't there and that worried Archie.

"Mark, where's Arinia?" Archie inquired.

"That's what I came to see you about, Team Magma captured her and carried her off to be their prisoner, and I don't know where they took her...."

Archie jumped to his feet, "You've got to be kidding me! That's terrible..... Poor little Arinia, she must be terrified....."

Mark nodded sadly since the loss of his girlfriend to Team Magma had hit him hard.

Archie looked at Mark and saw that Mark was trying not to go to pieces over losing Arinia to Team Magma so he said, "Mark, I think they took her to their base in Lilycove. That might be a good place to start looking, though they might have taken her there and then moved her to another one of their bases."

Mark nodded and then asked, "What are we going to do?"

"Try to find and rescue little Arinia. She doesn't deserve to be a prisoner at the merciless hands of Team Magma but in your loving arms where I think she truly belongs." Archie said thoughtfully.

Mark smiled but that smile quickly faded at the thought of what was to come.

"I will get a squad to meet you at the entrance to our base who will go with you to help you track down Team Magma and find your sweetheart." Archie said.

Mark nodded and Archie smiled. "Good. Now go to the entrance and the squad should meet you there in a couple of minutes." Archie said still smiling while trying to keep Mark's spirits up.

Mark nodded and left Archie's office and headed to the entrance to wait for the squad to join him there.

A few minutes later, the squad joined Mark and they set out on a mission that they called "Find and Rescue Arinia".

Meanwhile, the Team Magma grunts were still keeping a close eye on Arinia even though she was sound asleep and had no idea that they were even there beside her as they drove to take her to where she would be offered to Groudon. Shortly afterward, an Admin got up and walked over to where Arinia was and where the grunts were gathered around her.

The grunt looked at the Admin before he asked, "Alright, look...even if we DO wake up Groudon, how are we going to subdue it long enough to capture it?!"

"That's not what we're trying to do! We're giving him the girl in exchange for a wish the boss wants granted!" The other Admin shot back.

"So!? Snag a Legendary in the process! The boss will thank us with everything he has!" The grunt said.

"SHUT UP! You'll wake her up!" The Admin shot back annoyed

Arinia shifted in her sleep and moaned a bit.

"Dammit! See!?" The Admin exclaimed.

Arinia opened her eyes and trembled in fear at the sight of them beside her.

"Oh, damn...now look what you did!" The Admin exclaimed.

Arinia drew back scared that he would hurt her.

"Kid, go back to sleep, and just ignore us." The Admin told Arinia in a stern tone of voice.

Arinia trembled at the sound of his voice and shook uncontrollably.

The Admin looked at Arinia sharply. "Just go back to sleep. We don't need a kid interrupting our plans. You'll be useful in ONE STAGE of this plan, but that's IT."

Arinia gulped and didn't know whether to obey him or be defiant.

"You got it...KID...?" The Admin asked her sharply.

The grunt called out his Altaria and had it sing Arinia back to sleep. Arinia's eyelids fluttered as she tried to stay awake, but that attempt was useless and before long she was sound asleep again.

"Whew...she's asleep...now, we were saying..." The Admin said.

"How far are we from our destination?" The grunt inquired.

"About a mile..." The Admin replied.

"And how far is it from where she'll be offered to Groudon?" The grunt asked.

"Further than that." The Admin replied.

"How much further from there?" The grunt asked while starting to get bored.

"Several miles..." The Admin replied with a sigh.

"So when we get there, do we give Groudon the girl, get Maxie's wish granted and then leave the girl there to die?" The grunt inquired.

"Yes." The Admin replied.

"We're going to leave her there to die?" The grunt said in disbelief.

"Of course!" The Admin replied.

"Does she deserve that? Wouldn't be better if we just kept her prisoner?" The grunt asked.

"Hmm...That works too, I suppose." The Admin said thoughtfully.

"So what are we going to do with her?" The grunt asked again.

"Leave her there for a little while...and then come back and take her prisoner." The Admin replied.

"What will we do with her once we have her again?" The grunt asked.

"We'll see what happens when we get there." The Admin replied.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at their destination and their van stopped and everyone got out and unloaded Arinia from the back of the van.

"Good, now let's go find that altar we need to lay her on to make Groudon grant my wish." Maxie said grinning evilly.

"Right...lead the way, boss..." The Admin replied.

Maxie nodded and began walking towards a large slab of rock that lay about 50 yards away. They were ten yards from their goal when Arinia woke up again and began making a fuss while trying to free herself to escape.

"Calm down, kid..." The Admin said.

Arinia shook her head quickly so a grunt restrained her and held her to her little bed they were carrying her in while the Admin got a tranquilizer ready to give her.

"Alright, look. You stop moving, and I don't stick this tranquilizer in you! You keep squirmin', and in it goes." The Admin threatened menacingly.

Arinia trembled in fear.

The Admin stuck the tranquilizer in her arm as he said, You're feeling very sleepy..."

Arinia screamed.

"Why hasn't she passed out by now?" A grunt asked.

"Give her another one of a higher dosage." Maxie replied heartlessly.

Arinia looked scared.

"Right." The Admin said as he reached into a pouch and pulled out a larger one, then he stuck her in the arm with it.

Arinia tried to stay awake but this time the tranquilizer overpowered her and she slipped back into a deep sleep.

"Hahahaha!" The Admin said laughing.

"Now come on, we're almost there. We won't have any more interruptions with her being sound asleep." Maxie said on, everyone." The Admin said.

The Admin began to walk towards the shrine behind Maxie. The grunts brought up the rear carrying Arinia's little bed while she slept in what seemed like peace but hid what had put her there to begin with. They kept walking until they reached the rock altar Maxie had read about and told them about.

"Here it is, bring forth the girl." Maxie said smiling evilly.

The two Grunts carrying Arinia came forward, took out Arinia and put her on the shrine.

Arinia was now lying on the stone altar while they all looked at her, not caring that where she was laying was uncomfortable.

"Groudon, if you can hear me come on out, we've brought you a little girl like the prophecy so tells." Maxie yelled while trying to sound friendly.

"Yes...please come, Groudon..." The Admin said.

The ground started to shake as a large pokemon began to emerge from a cavern a little ways from the shine and made its way over to them.

"You know, I wasn't expecting that was going to work." The Admin said shaking his head.

Groudon lumbered over to the shrine and looked down at Arinia where she slept on the hard uneven surface of the altar. Groudon nodded his head at the sight of the girl and turned back to Team Magma.

"How is the girl?" The Admin asked.

Groudon roared a "she's fine now get to the point" kind of roar.

"Yes...Groudon...I wish for the world's landmass to increase so there will be more space for humans and Pokémon alike!" Maxie said, in a determined voice.

Groudon growled an "it will be done", but he actually meant that he would do nothing of the sort.

Four grunts made their way up to where Arinia laid on the altar and tried to recapture her while she slept and Groudon wasn't looking.

"Come on, let's scram!" Muttered Maxie.

"And leave the girl?" The Admin questioned.

"No, no, take her!" Maxie screamed.

"Yes Sir." A grunt said.

The grunts seized Arinia and put her back in the little bed and carried her away from the shrine and back to where Maxie and the rest of the group was. Groudon saw what they were trying to do and tried to stop them from taking her, but there wasn't much he could do to help the poor girl.

"Good, we have her again, now let's get out of here and head back to our base so that we can lock her up again." Maxie said to his group while he grinned evilly.

Arinia stirred, her eyes opening. Noticing where she was, she gave a strangled cry for help. Groudon roared and came their way trying to save Arinia from Team Magma. Arinia looked around as best as she could from her little bed and then she saw something that made her heart skip a beat. Running towards her as fast as his legs could carry him was Mark with his group following closely behind him. Mark had his Politoed out and Arinia couldn't help smiling despite how groggy she felt. Mark got close enough and then had his Politoed use Psychic to lift the bed she was laying on out of the Team Magma grunt's hands and then had it float her bed over to where he and his teammates were. Mark ordered Politoed to lower Arinia to the ground and then to stand guard lest Team Magma try anything. Mark ran to her and knelt beside her and moved her from her little bed so that he was cradling her in his arms as he hugged her.

"Arinia, I'm so glad you're alright." Mark said hugging her tighter.

Arinia smiled tiredly since she still felt very groggy from the tranquilizers Team Magma had given her. Mark continued to hold Arinia and then kissed her on the forehead and then laid her back into her little bed so that she could rest.

"AAARGH!! Get them, everyone!" cried Maxie. Maxie and the rest of Team Magma that was with him began to run towards the place Mark and Arinia were.

"Hurry! Grab a corner of her bed and let's get out of here!" Mark said to his teammates urgently.

"Don't let them escape!" shouted Maxie. Maxie released a Mightyena, which chased Mark and his teammates.

Arinia looked scared, "Mark! Don't let them get me!"

A huge burst of flame came from a Admin's Camerupt. "Everyone! Send out Pokémon and attack!" The Admin ordered.

Mark looked at Arinia before he said, "Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't let them take you again."

Flashes of white light came from Pokéballs. Many Fire and Dark types came out, such as Numel, Camerupt, Torchic, Combusken, Blaziken, Murkrow, Poochyena and Mightyena.

Mark looked at Arinia before he asked, "Arinia can you run, or are you too tired?"

"I'm too tired...I'm sorry, Mark." Arinia said sadly.

"Will you be okay if I carry you?" Mark asked her.

"That's fine," gasped Arinia, "but they're close...hurry..."

Mark's teammates set down her bed and Mark grabbed her quickly and bundled her into a blanket and positioned her in his arms, then Mark and his teammates started running away from Team Magma.

Maxie pulled out a normal handgun and starting shooting at them. "Do anything in your power to STOP THEM!!!!"

"Boss! Be careful! You might kill the girl!" A grunt cried.

"I know that! I'm shooting for the guy carrying her!" Maxie replied annoyed.

"Boss! What do we need her for? I thought we didn't need her anymore." The grunt questioned.

Maxie paused and lowered his gun. "Erm...eh...that's..."

"What should we do, boss?" The grunt asked.

"We never release a prisoner! Remember! Now chase!" Maxie ordered.

Mark and his teammates were almost to the waterfront where their ship was moored.

Maxie released the final shot in his clip. It traveled...and traveled...

"AH!" Mark cried as the bullet hit him in the shoulder. Mark was reeling in pain and dropped Arinia and she landed hard on the ground.

"HA!" Maxie ran forward and picked up Arinia. "Now I have you..."

"HELP!" Arinia cried terrified.

Maxie covered her mouth with his hand. "Shut up!"

An Admin came over to Maxie with another tranquilizer in his hand.

"Good, good! Stab her, damn it!" Maxie cried.

One of Mark's teammates had his Swampert use Water Gun on the Admin and another had their Walrein use Ice Beam on Maxie's hands and feet.

"What the fu...!?" Maxie struggled. "Damn it! Get me out!"

A Team Aqua grunt ran over and lifted Arinia out of Maxie's arms and then ran away from them towards their ship. An Executive came to help Maxie by using his Combusken to melt the ice covering Maxie's hands and feet. Many of Mark's teammates helped him up and helped him to their ship. The Team Aqua grunt carrying Arinia ran after them and when he reached their ship, he quickly boarded it.

"God damn it! They escaped!!" Maxie threw his gun to the ground in anger, and swore.

"Boss! They haven't left yet! We might still be able to get the girl!" An Admin cried.

"AH!!" Maxie charged towards the ship as fast as he could.

The grunt carried Arinia to an open cabin and put her in bed and then sat down beside her to guard her. Meanwhile, a Team Aqua Lieutenant went to the controls and started up the ship and pulled away from where they were docked, leaving Team Magma high and dry.

"ARGH!!!" Maxie swore much more loudly and much worse. "Oh, we'll get them one day...ONE DAY..."

Team Magma now headed back to their base since there was nothing they could do now to get Arinia back at this moment in time. Meanwhile, Arinia was in bed relaxing, and Mark was in the infirmary getting his shoulder examined.

"Shhh... you're OK now, Arinia..." the Grunt said with a smile.

"I was so scared......" Arinia said trying not to cry.

The Grunt pulled Arinia into a tight, but comforting hug. "It's alright, we won't let them get you again..."

Arinia nodded but still seemed scared.

"How's Mark?" Arinia asked worried.

"I have no idea...I'll go check on him, OK?" The grunt asked her

"Okay." Arinia replied still sounding worried.

He put down Arinia and walked into another room, where Mark was being looked at. Mark seemed to be in a great deal of pain while they were trying to extract the bullet from his arm.

"Ouch...Mark, how are you feeling right now?" The grunt inquired.

"In a great deal of pain....... Right now I really hate Maxie even more than I did before this mission." Mark replied while grimacing in pain.

"That's hard to do." The grunt replied.

"How's Arinia?" Mark asked while trying to get his mind off the pain.

"She's fine, just tired..." The grunt replied.

"What did they do to her anyways?" Mark asked still groaning in pain as they finally extracted the bullet from his arm.

"They gave her tranquilizers." The grunt replied.

"Damn that Maxie.... She did nothing to him!" Mark cried clearly angry.

"He wanted her to get Groudon, I heard..." The grunt replied.

"Damn that Maxie! He never gives up!" Mark cried.

"No he doesn't...man, I wish we could get back at him." The grunt replied.

From the other room Arinia started crying and they thought they heard something but weren't sure what.

"Is that Arinia?" asked the Grunt.

"Probably........ Why don't you go see." Mark said sitting up after the doctor had bandaged his arm.

"Sure..." the Grunt ran out and back to the room where Arinia was in.

Arinia was lying facedown in her pillow crying when the grunt entered.

"Arinia?" The grunt put his hand on Arinia's back. "Are you OK?"

Arinia rolled over and sat up but when she did so, the grunt observed that two places on her arm were badly swollen.

"Oh...is that from the tranquilizers?" The grunt asked her.

Arinia nodded and then shook at the memory of what they had done to her.

"Ah...it'll all be over soon...we'll destroy Team Magma!" The grunt cried while trying to keep Arinia's spirits up.

"I sure hope so... I don't want to be near them again!" Arinia cried with a new surge of tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Yeah...I know...I wouldn't want to either, if I was in your shoes..." the Grunt said sadly.

Just then Mark appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, Mark." The grunt said.

Mark acknowledged the grunt and then came over to Arinia sat down beside her and moved her so that he was cradling her in his arms.

"Mark...do you suggest we go to the base now?" said the grunt.

"It's imperative that we do, if they ambush us they might recapture her and then we might never see her again." Mark said holding Arinia tighter.

"Right," said the grunt, "I'll go talk to the captain of this ship..."

"Thank you, her best bet to be safe is to be at our base where we can hide and protect her." Mark said.

The grunt nodded and walked out of the room. Arinia laid her head against Mark's shoulder while she cried.

"Aw...Arinia...help will be on the way...we'll be at the base shortly...I promise." Mark said, comfortingly.

"I don' t understand why Maxie wants me to begin with!" Arinia cried crying harder after she said that.

"Neither do I, Arinia. Neither do I..." Mark said while trying to soothe Arinia.

"I'm afraid of what'll happen if Maxie manages to kidnap me again." Arinia said sounding fearful.

"Not to scare you, but...knowing Maxie, it would be something awful...but let's not think about that." Maxie told Arinia while holding her tight.

Arinia's eyes went wide, "Li....ike.... what?"

"Probably being kept prisoner for life." Mark told her.

Arinia shook and trembled in fear at the thought.

"But, I assure you, that will not happen. Not on MY watch." Mark told Arinia firmly.

"What would I ever do without you?" Arinia said hugging Mark.

"I feel the same way, sweetheart, and I'll always protect you. I will always protect you..." Mark gave Arinia a little squeeze and smiled.

The grunt came to the deck of the ship where an admin was steering the ship.

The grunt walked up to the admin. "Um, excuse me...can you bring us back to the Team Aqua base?"

"Because of Arinia?" The Admin inquired.

The grunt smirked. "Eh-heh-heh...yeah."

"I was heading there anyways, I was thinking the exact same thing, I don't want Maxie to get her again......" The Admin said.

"Yeah, I know..... Maxie does atrocious things to his prisoners....." The grunt said his voice trailing off.

The grunt sighed. "Alright, so, you send someone after me to let me know when we've arrived?"

"Sure thing, be sure to tell Mark we're heading back to base." The Admin answered swiftly.

"Right." The grunt nodded and turned around to walk away.

"Oh, and you might want to get the doctor to look at Arinia to make sure she's alright, I don't think Maxie took care of her very well......." The Admin added with a sigh.

"I got it." The grunt replied.

"Good." The Admin replied.

The grunt walked away to go get the doctor so that Arinia could be examined to make sure that she was as well as she should be on a good day.


	5. Of Love and Illness

Chapter 5

"Of Love and Illness"

The grunt continued down several hallways until he came to the infirmary and went inside. Once inside, the grunt located the doctor and then followed the instructions he had been given. The grunt entered the infirmary and looked for the doctor. A minute or two later the doctor came out of his office to see who had come in.

"So," said the grunt, "Arinia's is in good shape, except for a swollen arm from the tranquilizers."

"What?! The poor thing..... I don't trust the kind of medicine they gave her to knock her out!" The doctor exclaimed.

"Ugh...I agree with you..." the grunt said, and then sighed. "Damn you, Team Magma..."

"I think I should check Arinia and give her a check up......" The doctor said sighing.

"That's a good idea," the grunt replied, "do you know where she is on the boat?"

"No I don't....." The doctor replied his voice trailing off.

"Then just follow me." The grunt turned on his heel and walked off with the doctor following.

They walked down several hallways until they came to Arinia's room and entered it after knocking.

"Hey, Arinia. A doctor is here to check out your condition, alright?"

Arinia nodded and leaned her head against Mark's shoulder.

The doctor looked at Arinia and nodded. "Could you lay back for a moment?"

Arinia let go of Mark and laid back gently resting her head into her pillow.

"Arinia, I think I know what happened. You were allergic to the tranquilizers. However, to prove this I'll need to take a blood sample." The doctor explained.

Arinia nodded and let the doctor take her hand to prick her finger.

The doctor watched the red liquid flow into the small tube and then took it out after a few seconds. "I'd say that's a sufficient amount." The doctor put a small rubber cap over the mini needle and stuck it in his pocket.

The doctor wrapped a band-aid around her finger and then left the room to go analyze the blood sample.

"See? That was easy," said Mark to Arinia with a smile, "now, you look like you have something to tell me." He looked at the grunt.

"Only to tell you that we're headed to the Team Aqua base like you suggested." The grunt informed him.

"Great news! We can protect her much better there than we can here with just a few people, and the boss likes her anyways so there you are." Mark replied.

"Well, yeah, you're right. The boss does like her. But, anyway, we'll be there shortly," the grunt said, "I hope."

Arinia looked from Mark to the grunt trying to figure out why she suddenly felt slightly weak and a little sick.

Mark looked at Arinia, concerned. "Um, Arinia, are you OK?"

"Mark...... I....." Arinia's voice trailed off.

The grunt also looked at Arinia. "You sounded sick. Really. Are you alright?"

"I…. I don't know....." Arinia smiled weakly.

"Oh, man. I bet that doctor was right," Mark said with a gulp, "I think you were allergic to those tranquilizers."

Arinia looked scared.

"Now, we don't mean to scare you, but...I think he's right." replied the grunt.

"So...... What's gonna happen?" Arinia asked still sounding scared.

"I don't have a clue!" exclaimed the grunt.

"Same here," Mark replied, but calmer.

Just then the doctor returned with the test results and some medicine.

The grunt nodded. "Got anything?"

"The results showed that she was allergic to the tranquilizers like I thought." The doctor said sadly.

"Aww..." replied Mark.

Arinia smiled weakly at them.

"Well? Any more info?" the grunt asked.

"She needs medical care." The doctor replied sadly.

"Ah...and how long will she need medical care?" Mark asked.

" I don't know..... As long as it takes to get her well." The doctor replied.

"That's a good answer." said the grunt with a nod.

Arinia smiled weakly since she didn't feel very well.

"Um...does Arinia have to stay here or what?" the grunt asked.

"Can she stay in this room or does she have to stay in the infirmary is that what you're asking?" The doctor inquired.

"Yeah." The grunt replied.

"Should she stay here or should she be moved to the infirmary?" Mark asked sounding worried.

"Well, I suggest that she be moved to the infirmary." the doctor replied.

"Then we'll do so. Though we must keep her comfortable." Mark said.

The grunt nodded. "Mark's right."

Arinia tried to sit up but couldn't.

The doctor looked over at Arinia and smiled. "Don't worry, you're going to be fine."

"Okay....." Arinia replied with her voice trailing off.

Mark now helped Arinia sit up and then moved her so that he could lift her into his arms.

The doctor placed his hand on the doorknob after he walked over to the door. "Alright, let's move her now." He opened the door and walked out.

Mark followed the doctor and carried Arinia up to the infirmary with the grunt following him. Mark carried Arinia into the infirmary and over to a bed. The grunt pulled the covers back and Mark laid her down, then the grunt covered her up again.

"How's that?" the grunt asked.

"Okay, I guess....." Arinia replied.

"Good enough." replied Mark.

"Mark?" Arinia asked.

"Yes?" Mark replied.

"Team Magma did something else beside the shots to me..." Arinia replied.

Mark looked shocked. "What'd they do!?"

"They made me take two sleep potions...." Arinia replied looking down.

Mark's eyes widened. "Those bastards," he swore, "You may have been allergic to THOSE too!"

"Probably....." Arinia replied.

He let out another swear and he clenched his fists. "MAN, I cannot WAIT to get back at Team Magma now..." He was mad.

"Thank you for rescuing me, Mark." Arinia said smiling weakly at him.

Mark calmed down slightly. "Ah, heh, that's alright..."

"Mark? What would have happened if Maxie found out that I had gotten sick?" Arinia asked sounding slightly worried.

Mark's eyes widened. "Oh, crap. I never thought of that. A lot could happen, I suppose."

"Like what?" Arinia asked.

"He could have used the DNA of your illness to torture prisoners, I suppose." Mark explained.

"But what would he have done to me?" Arinia asked sounding scared.

"Oh...heh...man, if he had you as his prisoner, he might have thought you were useless since you were sick and killed you." Mark replied.

"What!?" Arinia cried.

The grunt shook his head and spoke for the first time in a while. "Hey, it sounds like something Maxie would do."

"So basically you might've saved my life......" Arinia replied wide-eyed.

"For all intents and purposes.…." the grunt started.

"...yes." Mark finished.

"Thank you." Arinia replied now trying to relax.

"You're welcome," Mark replied simply.

Arinia nodded and tried to sit up to hug him but couldn't.

"Don't sit up," Mark warned, "you don't want to hurt yourself more than you already are."

"I wanted to hug you, but I guess I can't....." Arinia said looking down sadly.

Mark smiled. "Aw, Arinia...you're gonna be fine. Team Magma are jerks for giving those things to you. Man, I'd call them worse, but I don't feel like it."

"What about my parents?" Arinia questioned. "Are you going to tell them about this?"

Mark covered his eyes. "ACK! I forgot about them!" He put his hand back to his side. "Yeah, I'll tell them."

"When do you think I can see them again, Mark?" Arinia asked.

"I have no idea," Mark said sadly, "that's the doctor's job."

"Mark, if Team Magma sees her again, they'll probably capture her again, I don't recommend her going anywhere for awhile until we have Maxie handled." The grunt said speaking up again.

Mark nodded, looking at the grunt. "Yeah, that's a good plan."

"What's going to happen then?" Arinia asked.

"We're gonna keep you at our base until the threat passes." Mark told her grimly.

The grunt nodded. "Just like you said to me, that's a good plan."

Arinia sighed and looked down since she felt trapped with the plan they were putting in place to protect her.

"Arinia? You look uncomfortable." the grunt commented.

"I just miss my parents....." Arinia said still looking down.

"Oh..." said the grunt slowly. "Hey, shouldn't we have gotten to the base by now?!"

The grunt's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm going to go check what the heck is going on."

Just then Mark's radio crackled to life. "MARK! Stay with Arinia! We've been ambushed by Team Magma!" A voice said through the radio.

Mark swore. "Well, that's scary!"

The grunt laughed. "HA! I don't even know the meaning of the word fear!" The grunt opened the door to see a Team Magma Admin pointing a gun at his head. "Fear, noun, a state of terror."

The grunt pulled out a gun of his own and joined the rest of the Team Aqua members fighting the Team Magma members.

Mark shut the door and locked it. "This is bad, huh, Arinia?"

Arinia looked at him, her eyes wide and she was shaking in fear.

"Aw..." Mark sighed. He quickly hugged Arinia, but he didn't lift her off the bed. "Don't worry, we'll get through this fine..."

Just then the doctor reappeared with three shots.

Mark looked up at the doctor. "Wait a minute...where'd you come from!? You didn't come in through the door, it's locked!"

"I had gone into my office to get her medicine." The doctor replied.

"Yes, I know that," Mark said, exasperated, "but how'd you get in here?" Mark blinked. "Wait, I just realized we're in the infirmary..."

The doctor came over to Arinia's side and gently pulled her arm out from under the covers.

"Hold on. This won't hurt..." the doctor said in a quiet voice.

Arinia relaxed and waited for the pricks to come that would signify that she had gotten the medicine she needed. A minute or two later, it was all over and all three shots had been administered.

"Well, that was alright...not!" The doctor pulled off his lab coat to reveal a red coat underneath. This fake doctor was actually a member of Team Magma.

Arinia struggled to get away from the person in the red coat but could barely even move.

The Team Magma executive laughed. "Don't try to escape!" He suddenly took a vicious uppercut from Mark.

Arinia gulped and shivered in fear at the sight of what was unfolding before her.

The Team Magma executive peeled himself off the floor, kicked Mark in the knee and grabbed Arinia. He looked at Mark's frame on the floor as he spun around and ran out the now open door.

"MARK! HELP!" Arinia cried scared to death.

Mark stood up and chased the Team Magma executive with a slight limp from the kick to the knee. "Hold on!"

The Executive stopped briefly and gagged Arinia so that she couldn't talk and give away his position. The executive kept running after he had gagged her and then passed her off to Maxie. Arinia's eyes went wide and she trembled in fear.

Maxie smirked. "I have you once again!" Maxie turned around and ran towards the ship.

Arinia tried to cry for help, but couldn't talk because of the gag.

Maxie ran towards the ship as time seemed to slow down. He reached the ramp and ran up it. "Farewell, TEAM AQUA!!"

Team Magma members worked to pull up the ramp before any Team Aqua members or Mark could reach it. They raised the sail...and set sail.

Arinia's eyes grew even wider since she was now trapped with no way to get back to Mark, and even if there was a way she couldn't move because she was sick.

Maxie laughed a sick laugh, like the twisted person he was. "You're with us now...we won't let you out of our grasp...EVER..."

Arinia looked terrified and tried to squirm to get loose but to no avail.

"It's not worth it...you're stuck. For good!" Maxie told her severely.


	6. Captured Again

Chapter 6

"Captured Again"

Maxie carried Arinia into a dark part of the ship. She was terrified. Arinia's eyes grew even wider as she began to see where he was taking her.

"You're going into a prison cell for the rest of the trip. Got it?" Maxie said evilly.

Arinia trembled in fear, not liking what was happening. Maxie came to the cell door, which was open. He walked inside it and roughly placed her on a very uncomfortable bed. He then walked out of the room, shut the door and locked it. Arinia started to cry, she didn't like that she had been captured again and that she was being treated like dirt.

Maxie stood at the door and smiled. "Someone will come and deliver your meals three times a day. Don't expect to eat well, though! HA!" Maxie laughed and walked away, smiling evilly.

Meanwhile, Mark sat in the infirmary on the bed where Arinia used to be. He was swearing to himself in defeat. "I lost her...I could have...no..."

A Team Aqua Executive came over to Mark, "We'll get her back, I know we will, you just need to have some hope....."

Mark sighed. "I hope you're right."

"You got her back once, we can do it again, we just need to track them down to find out where they're taking her." The Executive said.

Mark sighed again. "I wish it actually were that easy..."

"We'll get her back, you'll see. We won't let you down, somehow or another, we will get your girlfriend back." The Executive told him sincerely.

Mark looked up at the Executive. "She's not my girlfriend..."

"Then what is she?" The Executive asked.

"We're just friends," Mark explained, "We're friends but she happens to be a girl. We're not that close yet."

"Poor girl...... Maxie's going to be so mean to her...." The Executive said, his voice trailing off after each thought.

"I know...that's the sad part." Mark shook his head. "Curse him..."

"We'll get her back, now come help us find out where they took her." The Executive told him.

Mark jumped up. "Got it."

Mark and the Executive left the room to go figure out where Team Magma was headed with Arinia as their prize.


	7. A Plan of Escape

Chapter 7

"A Plan of Escape"

Maxie returned to Arinia's cell about two hours later and by this point in time she was locked up in a cell at their base. By this point in time, Arinia was fast asleep.

"Wakey, wakey, little girl..." Maxie said evilly.

Arinia groaned and reluctantly woke up, still feeling very sick.

"Are you feeling alright? Probably not!" Maxie said.

Arinia tried to sit up but couldn't and fell back hard coming close to hitting her head but luckily didn't.

"It's almost time for your meal, you know." At that moment, a grunt came in with a bowl of soup. "Eat up!" Maxie told her.

Arinia tried to sit up again but no matter what she tried she just didn't have the strength to sit up.

"Well, then, if you don't sit up, you don't eat!" The grunt left the bowl of soup on the floor. "Bye-bye!" Maxie waved goodbye in a mocking way then left the cell.

Outside the cell the grunt had stopped Maxie, "Boss, I think she's really sick......"

Maxie turned around and looked at Arinia. "Well? How do we treat her, if you're so smart?"

"I don't know, but something's definitely wrong since she couldn't sit up and I saw that she was straining to try to sit up." The grunt replied.

"Fine. We'll bring her to the base doctor." Maxie reentered the cell, picked up Arinia and walked out of the cell once more.

Arinia fainted since all the energy she had used to try to sit up had just about left her body. Arinia went seemingly limp in Maxie's arms.

Maxie stared at Arinia's limp form in his arms. "I think she died."

The grunt moved Arinia and then laid his ear to her chest and then stood up again and said, "She's still alive, she's just very weak......"

Maxie nodded and moved more quickly. They quickly walked to the infirmary and went inside. Maxie carried the little girl over to the doctor to get his analysis on her condition.

The doctor took Arinia and laid her on the table. "I will need a blood test," said the doctor, "I may need another test, though..."

"Do whatever it takes to save her life." Maxie replied at once.

The doctor nodded. "Then that's exactly what I will do."

"Where do you want her?" Maxie inquired.

The doctor shrugged. "Right here is fine."

"Okay, good." Maxie replied, looking at Arinia's sick form.

Arinia shifted and woke up, her eyes opening slowly.

Maxie nodded. "She's awake."

"Good, she's alive, that's great news." The doctor replied.

Arinia struggled to keep her eyes open.

The doctor looked right into Arinia's eyes. "She can barely keep her eyes open...she must be tired."

"Should we let her sleep? What do you want to do, doctor?" Maxie inquired.

The doctor nodded. "I'll just take this blood test, and then let her sleep." He pricked her finger quickly. "There, that was quick!" He pocketed the small vial that contained her blood along with the needle after he had properly sealed it up again.

Arinia's eyes closed again and her breathing slowed somewhat as she slipped back into healing sleep. The doctor smiled and took Arinia into another room with a bed and placed her into it. The doctor then came out of the room. "There..."

"How long do you think she'll be sick, doctor?" Maxie inquired.

"I have no idea..." The doctor said with a sigh.

"Then just take care of her to the best of your ability." Maxie said firmly.

The doctor smiled. "I will indeed!"

"Well you have a patient." Maxie said frowning.

The doctor also frowned. "Why didn't you come to me FIRST THING when you got to the base?"

"What? It's not serious, at least I didn't think so...." Maxie replied sheepishly.

"Of course it's serious," the doctor exclaimed, "She can't even sit up! Why do you always treat your prisoners so evilly?"

"I just do. I still wasn't aware that she was this sick, she never said anything about it to me..." Maxie started.

The doctor sighed. "Of course she wouldn't have said anything! She probably thought you would make it worse."

"Well, she's under your care now and we can't change the past, so let's keep moving." Maxie said shaking his head in annoyance.

The doctor nodded. "Of course. Now, I will now be leaving to go do this blood test. Expect the results of it before noon tomorrow."

"Very well." Maxie said, turning to leave.

The doctor also turned to leave and walked into his office.

Arinia shook and twitched in the bed at the nightmare that was unfolding in her mind... She dreamed that she had been running and had been cornered against a steep rock wall and that every member of Team Magma had aimed a gun at her to make her surrender herself to captivity. Breath tore at Arinia's lungs as she ran from the bullets flying from Team Magma's guns.

Maxie blocked her path, "Surrender yourself and live, fight us and die, what'll it be?"

Arinia gulped and changed direction. "Stay away!"

Team Magma members cocked their guns and aimed them at her waiting for Maxie's signal. Arinia turned around and stared at the guns, backing away from them until she hit something solid...and very cold... ...she had hit a solid rock wall, blocking her path. "NO!" She screamed.

"Give it up, little girl, you're trapped, unless you can teleport you're a goner if you don't surrender to me." Maxie said grinning evilly.

Arinia sobbed and raised her arms in defeat. "I...surrender..."

"Seize her!" Maxie ordered.

The members of Team Magma rushed forward to grab Arinia and they succeeded. Arinia lowered her head as she felt herself being dragged away. This was where the nightmare left off, Arinia trembled in fear in her sleep just as the doctor entered her room with her medicine she needed to take and he saw that something seemed to be wrong.

The doctor shook Arinia slightly, just enough to arouse her from sleep. "Arinia," he said, barely above a whisper, "You were shaking. Are you OK?"

Arinia groaned and reluctantly opened her eyes, still feeling very sick.

"Arinia," the doctor repeated, "Are you OK? You were twitching in your sleep!"

"Just a stupid nightmare...." Arinia murmured still half asleep.

The doctor sighed. "Ahh, well, if that's all it was, I apologize for waking you up..." The doctor shook his head. "Of course, with that awful dream, it probably wasn't a very peaceful slumber."

Arinia nodded and then shortly afterward fainted.

Maxie strode into the room now that the doctor had left. "I'm baaaaack..."

The doctor looked at Arinia and then looked at Maxie and said, "She had a nightmare and I think she just fainted......"

Maxie snorted. "Well, if she fainted, wake her up!"

The doctor sighed, "Yes sir, but she does still need her rest to recover."

Maxie frowned. "Ah, well, never mind then..."

"Unless you want her to die from not getting enough sleep that could very well help heal her that is......" The doctor added quietly but seriously.

Maxie grinned sheepishly. "Well, uh, one up on me...I didn't know that...ignore comment."

"You don't want to lose her, right?" The doctor questioned.

Maxie nodded. "Of course not. I was just acting stupid. Sorry." Maxie grabbed Arinia and roughly shook her awake. Maxie laughed coldly. "Did you really believe me?! Gullible fool! You should know by now I will do anything to get my way and my way only!"

Arinia cried out in pain since Maxie was hurting her from where he had grabbed her.

The doctor grabbed Maxie and yanked him to the ground. "MAXIE!! Do you want her to die!? It seems like it!! Let her sleep!" He was outraged.

While this was going on, Arinia was crying since she was scared and had been hurt when she had been rudely jerked out of sleep.

The doctor shoved Maxie out the door, shut it and locked it. "And don't come back!!"

Arinia was still crying while she wished that she was anywhere other than a prisoner at the merciless hands of Team Magma.

The doctor walked back over to Arinia. "Don't worry...I'm not like them..."

"He kidnapped me and he treats me like this?" Arinia said still crying.

The doctor sighed. "I know, I know...that cruel, heartless..." He growled.

"He took me away from my best friend!" Arinia cried as more tears streamed down her cheeks.

"That's it. As soon as I can, I'm busting you and myself out of this joint. I'm fed up with how Maxie treats his prisoners and that was the final straw." The doctor smiled after that little speech.

Arinia stopped crying and looked at him, "Really?!"

The doctor grinned wider. "Of course. I never lie. As soon as we can get out of here, the better."

Arinia smiled weakly and she fought to stay awake to continue the conversation for the moment.

"Don't pressure yourself to stay awake. Don't say anything and just sleep..." The doctor walked away.

Arinia followed his movements with her eyes and then laid down and within minutes was sound asleep again.

An hour later, Maxie came back to the infirmary and banged on the door angry since he wanted to torment Arinia. The doctor walked up to the door and opened it, but stood in the doorway, not letting Maxie pass. Maxie glared daggers at him with hatred in his eyes.

The doctor snorted. "What do you want?"

"Half the team is leaving to go with me to face Team Aqua, and I don't want the child escaping!" Maxie told him viciously.

The doctor nodded. "Yes, sir. I understand. I will not let her get away under any circumstances!"

"If she does get away, consider yourself fired!" Maxie cried turning on his heel and leaving.

The doctor waited until Maxie turned around the corner before walking back and shutting the door. He walked back over to Arinia. Arinia rolled over once and then began slipping off the bed in her sleep.

"Aaah!" The doctor caught Arinia and placed her softly back onto the bed.

Arinia shook slightly but didn't wake up. She was too deep in sleep. The doctor smiled and brushed back a loose strand of her hair that had fallen into her eyes and looked at his little patient.

"Sleep well," he whispered.

Arinia shifted and then relaxed, but then coughed in her sleep before she settled down again. The doctor left the room and into his office so she would be alone. A Team Magma grunt entered the infirmary and ran to Arinia's bed, looked at her and then grabbed her hair and pulled on it. The doctor heard that, ran into the room and smacked the Team Magma grunt over the head with a broom, knocking him out. He then placed the broom and a chair under the doorknob, making it impossible to turn. Arinia squirmed and opened her eyes wondering what in the world had awakened her from her peaceful sleep.

The doctor sighed. "Sorry about that. A Team Magma grunt came in, so I knocked him out..."

Arinia nodded and then tried to stifle a cough.

"Go back to sleep," he said quietly.

Arinia closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep with no luck since she was coughing too hard. The doctor pulled a bottle of cough syrup out of his pocket. Arinia was too busy coughing to notice what the doctor was doing.

Arinia managed to stop coughing long enough to take the cough medicine the doctor had held out to her.

"I gave you some cough syrup, that should help," he said, in a quiet voice.

Arinia was still coughing but it was starting to be rather spaced out between coughs. Meanwhile, the Team Magma grunt groaned, got up and grabbed Arinia again when the doctor wasn't looking. The doctor realized his mistake of leaving the grunt in the room and smashed him over the head again with the same broom. This time, he took the chair away, threw the grunt out, shut and locked the door then put the chair back.

"T-t-thanks....." Arinia managed to choke out between coughs.

The doctor smiled. "Well, almost everyone is gone...ready to get the heck outta here? Or should I let you sleep more?"

"Yeah! I definately want outta here! I don't wanna stay here if I don't have to....." Arinia said quickly.

"Then we're gone. Can you run?" The doctor asked her.

"I don't know..... But I could try!" Arinia replied.

The doctor nodded. "Then, by all means, try."

Arinia sat up and gently eased herself out of bed and took a few uneasy, unbalanced steps.

"That's good," the doctor explained, "Keep at it."

Arinia continued walking around and after a few minutes she had completely regained her sense of balance and didn't wobble any more. She looked at the doctor wondering when they were going to get the heck out of there.

The doctor smiled, took the chair away from the door and opened it. "We're GONE!"

Arinia ran over to him and prepared herself to follow him.

"Look, I brought a gun. I hope we won't have to use it, but just in case..." His voice trailed off.

Arinia nodded while she hoped that they could escape without incident and that the doctor wouldn't have to use the gun he was carrying. The doctor tiptoed out of the room and turned down the corner where he broke into a cautious run. Arinia followed him in the same manner, being careful not to make much noise as she ran towards the doctor. He ran down another hallway and down a flight of stairs. Arinia followed but at the bottom of the stairs she had to stop. She was panting heavily and she held her hand to her heart.

The doctor stopped at the next flight of stairs. "I'll let you rest for a few minutes..."

Footsteps were heard above them heading in their direction, Arinia's eyes widened in fear. The doctor swore under his breath and slowly took out the gun. Arinia gasped for breath and a minute later she fainted.

"Uh-oh..." He picked up Arinia, slung her over his shoulders and ran like he never ran before.

"Who's down there!? I'm warning you! I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it! State your name and what you're doing or else!" The voice above them yelled to them.

"Yeah? I've also got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it, either!" He put Arinia down.

"If you've got the little brat and are trying to help her escape your days are numbered! That brat is our prisoner and she'll never be anything but that!" The voice cried.

The doctor shot up the stairs twice with his gun.

"Ooooh feisty are we?! If you have the kid, expect her to die!" The voice said.

"You'll have to kill me first!" The doctor cried.

"Very well!" The person the voice belonged to said as he rounded the corner and saw them. The Admin saw Arinia on the ground and aimed his gun at her to kill her.

The doctor raised his gun and shot first. The bullet hit the Admin in his arm holding the gun and he keeled over in pain as he tried to remove the bullet from his arm. The doctor gulped at what he was thinking of doing. He might kill the Magma Admin... He lowered his gun, walked over to the Admin and kicked him in the head to knock him out. He picked up Arinia again and kept running. Arinia shifted slightly but was still gasping for breath, it seemed like she wasn't getting enough air.

"Don't die on me, don't die on me, don't die on me, don't die on me..." He muttered, while still running.

Arinia was still gasping as the doctor ran down a few more flights of stairs and then through several hallways until he reached the exit to the base.

He slowed to a walk. "This is it...the exit. All we need to do now is jump in a car and we're gone."

Arinia shifted but was still gasping so the doctor knew that he had to move fast. The doctor ran right out the door and ran up to a car that was painted a dark red with the Team Magma logo on all four doors. The doctor opened the passenger door and placed Arinia inside. He ran to the other side of the car and got in the driver's seat. Arinia shifted again and continued to gasp for breath. The doctor put a key in the ignition and turned it. The car quickly started with a VROOM. He put the car into reverse, backed out of the parking space and shot off.


	8. Saving Arinia's Life

Chapter 8

"Saving Arinia's Life"

The doctor continued to drive. "Come on, come on, gotta get to the hospital..." He muttered.

Arinia shifted again as the doctor continued to drive. About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the outskirts of a town, the doctor parked the car close to the edge of town and went around to get Arinia and carefully took her out and positioned her in his arms and began to carry her into town to the hospital after he had removed his Team Magma pin.

He reached the hospital and threw the door open with a gasp. He walked up to the desk. The woman sitting behind the desk looked up, saw Arinia and gasped since Arinia was still gasping for a breath of fresh air.

She looked the doctor in the eye. "What happened to her?!"

"Maxie of Team Magma gave her tranquilizers and I think she had a allergic reaction to them!" The doctor cried.

The woman paged a doctor, who immediately came with a stretcher. "Here," said the non-Team Magma doctor, "Put her on this. You really shouldn't carry her."

The doctor from Team Magma placed Arinia on the stretcher and ran along side it all the way until the emergency room. The former Team Magma doctor stopped at the doors to the emergency room since he couldn't go in since he wasn't family.

The former Team Magma doctor paused for a moment. "Can I come with you? I may not be family, but I'm a doctor too..."

The hospital doctor frowned. "For WHO?"

"I got tricked into agreeing to be the doctor for Team Magma, I never wanted to accept, they forced me into it and I'm not proud of it. Ever since that first day, I wanted out after they made me accept.…." The doctor said shaking his head sadly, looked at Arinia and started to walk away.

The hospital doctor gave the stretcher to another doctor, who wheeled it in. "Oh..." He said, "Then, sure, you can come in..." He walked in to the ER.

The doctor nodded and followed him into the emergency room. Arinia was still gasping for breath while she was asleep.

One doctor brought out an oxygen tank and put the face mask on Arinia's face so she could get more air. Another doctor attached her to a heart monitor to see how her vital signs were. "My God, her heart...it's so fast...what did you give her!?" One of the doctors exclaimed.

"Nearly nothing, the last thing I gave her was a dosage of cough medicine since she was coughing hard. Other than that, I just let her sleep. She had been moving quickly when we're trying to escape from the Team Magma base and I think that's why her heart is beating as fast as it is......" The former Team Magma doctor told them sadly.

The hospital doctor nodded. "I get it...did you give her anything, ANYTHING at all besides that medicine?"

"Team Magma tried to kidnap her, and to calm her down, they gave her several tranquilizers. She had an allergic reaction to them," he explained.

"WHAT!? The poor thing! It's a wonder that she didn't die!" A doctor exclaimed in horror.

Yeah, definitely, it's a very good thing she didn't die..." The former Team Magma doctor sighed. "Do we move her into a room now?"

"Yeah, that's what we're about to do. We're going to keep her in the hospital for an undetermined amount of time." A doctor replied.

The doctors detached all the equipment from Arinia and placed her on another stretcher. Another doctor began to push the stretcher quickly into one of the rooms with the other doctors walking at the sides. By now, Arinia was no longer gasping for breath as they took her to the room that would be hers while she was in the hospital.

"Oh, and for a random statement, my name's Bernard," stated the former Team Magma doctor.

"You're still a doctor though." A hospital doctor stated looking at him.

He nodded. "Yes, but..."

"What about it?" The other hospital doctor inquired.

"Oh, never mind..." Bernard said, with a sigh.

"What are you going to do now that you no longer work for Team Magma?" A doctor asked out of the blue.

"Probably go to Team Aqua..." Bernard said, frowning.

"What's wrong with that? They're the only team in the region that's actually good." A doctor said, glancing at Arinia who was sound asleep.

"Nothing's wrong with that," Bernard replied quickly.

"I thought so." The hospital doctor replied.

"It's just that I'd love to go someplace that hates Team Magma and Team Aqua is a very good example of that." Bernard explained. By now, they had reached the hospital room.

"Very good reason." The hospital doctor said as he lifted Arinia and eased her into the hospital bed and covered her up to keep her warm.

Bernard stuck an IV needle in her vein in case she needed it and attached her to a heart monitor. Arinia shifted and began to wake up again after the IV had been placed in her left hand.

Bernard sighed with relief. "At least she's alive. Are you alright?"

Arinia nodded and then coughed.

"Do you need anything?" One of the hospital doctors asked.

"I don't know....." Arinia replied quietly. Arinia was starting to miss Mark and wanted him more than anything in the world right now.

From Arinia's bag, there was a beeping sound. "Say, what's that," Bernard asked, "Sounds like a cell phone."

"That's my pokegear." Arinia replied trying to reach for her bag but it was out of her reach.

Bernard reached into the bag, pulled out the PokéGear, opened it and handed it to Arinia.

"Hello?" Arinia asked.

There came a sigh from the other end. "Arinia, thank God you're OK," came Mark's voice.

"I'm fine, I'm not with Team Magma, but in a hospital somewhere......" Arinia replied.

"That's even better..." Mark replied.

"How are you feeling?" Mark asked.

"Tired...." Arinia replied yawning.

"Well, then, should I let you go to get some sleep?" Mark asked slowly. "If you're tired enough..."

"I'm tired but I really missed you." Arinia replied not knowing what to do.

"If you can get it, tell me the address to the hospital and what room you're in," Mark replied, "I'll come visit!"

Arinia looked at Bernard for help and he reached for her cell phone and she let him take it to tell Mark where the hospital was located and what room she was in since Arinia didn't know.

"Hey," Bernard said, "Write this down. The hospital is at 133 West Road and she's in room 15-B. That'll be on the third floor. Got it?" Bernard paused to listen to Mark's answer. "Yeah, that's right."

Bernard handed the cell phone back to Arinia and she took it eagerly now that Mark knew where she was.

"Hi, Arinia!" Mark exclaimed. "I'll be visiting the hospital soon. I'm leaving now. See you then!"

"Okay, I'll be looking forward to seeing you, see you soon, bye!" Arinia replied.

There was a click, and then the dial tone, announcing Mark had hung up. Arinia hung up too, and then the clock hit 6 o'clock and Arinia looked at it curiously since she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast because she had felt too bad to eat anything.

Bernard heard Arinia's stomach growl. "Hey, you hungry?" He asked with a smile.

Arinia nodded feeling a little embarrassed.

A hospital doctor pulled out a small communicator and pressed a button on it. "This is Mike, could I have some Jell-O and apple juice brought up to room 15-B? The patient hasn't eaten anything for a while." There was a pause. "Yes. Alright." He let go of the button.

"It won't be really FOOD," the doctor explained to Arinia, "It's just something to test that you can keep actual food down."

Arinia nodded but was starving since she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

There was a knock at the door. "That was fast," the doctor replied, opening the door. He was right. It was a worker delivering the Jell-O and juice. He wheeled the food in and took it off the cart on a tray.

Arinia looked at it, too hungry to care if it was real food or not.

He placed the tray on her lap and a trashcan at the side of the bed. "If you can't keep it down and need to vomit, throw up in that, not on us." The doctor explained.

Arinia nodded feeling stupid that she wasn't getting a whole meal right off.

"Well, 'eat' up, just to make sure you can keep solids down." One of the doctors said.

Arinia started to eat and managed to keep it down, just as she was finishing her tray of liquids, the door opened again and Mark entered.

Mark smiled. "Good, I see you can eat. But, anyway, what's going on?"

"I managed to get her away from Maxie...." Bernard admitted quietly.

"So you're the guy who broke her out of the Team Magma base," Mark replied, "Thank you..."

"Glad to do. I'm just glad I could help." Bernard said.

"Well, anyway, Arinia, what do you want to eat now that we know you can keep stuff down?" One doctor asked.

"I've never been in the hospital before, so I don't know what's an option....." Arinia replied quietly.

"Ugh...do you have anything starchy? Like rice or pasta?" Arinia asked.

"We have rice, just not pasta." The doctor replied answering her question.

"Sure, rice works. And a lot of it!" Arinia said, with a nod.

The doctor laughed and said, "A lot of it, it will be then. Do you want grape juice and butter with it?"

"Yes! Arinia exclaimed, instantly.

"Then rice with butter and some grape juice it will be." The doctor replied.

The doctor paged in what she wanted, just like he had done with the Jell-O and juice.

Very shortly after, a worker came up with a cart with three big bowls of buttery rice and a big glass of grape juice. Arinia's eyes widened at the sight of all the yummy rice.

The worker put the tray on Arinia's lap with all the juice and rice. "Eat up!"

Arinia started to eat, enjoying every mouthful.

"How's the rice?" Mark asked.

"Great!" Arinia replied setting down her spoon for a minute and hugging him.

"Ease up on your grip," Mark gasped, "Or I won't be around much longer!!"

Arinia didn't understand what he said and dropped him and went back to eating not looking at Mark.

Mark breathed heavily. "Thanks..."

Arinia glanced at him but said nothing and kept eating.

Mark caught his breath. "Give me a little warning next time you hug me like that, OK?"

Arinia gave a little nod but still said nothing. Arinia slowly ate her rice thinking that Mark was mad at her.

"Arinia...no, don't worry...I'm not mad at you. How could I ever be mad at you?" Mark said quietly.

Arinia set down her spoon again and looked at him not sure whether to look at him or hug him. Mark hugged Arinia and grinned. Arinia threw her arms around Mark's neck but not hard enough to choke him and buried her head against his chest and the tears she had been holding back when she was Maxie's prisoner finally broke loose.

"Oh Arinia.... Don't cry...... I'm here, don't you worry..... I won't let Maxie near you again......" Mark told Arinia while he tried to soothe her.

Arinia didn't say anything, just continued to sob.

"Oh Arinia....." Mark thought for a minute before he pulled something out from behind his back and said, "Look what I have here for you my love...."

Mark pulled the teddy bear he had brought for her out from behind his back and held it out to her.

"A...teddy bear..." She let go of Mark and hugged the bear tightly to her chest. "Thank you...Mark..."

"Do you like it Arinia?" Mark asked her.

"Of course..." Arinia replied smiling at him.

"You might want to finish your meal before it gets cold." Mark warned.

"Oh, right." She picked up the spoon and finished what was left of the rice.

Just then the door opened and 5 Team Magma members filed in and rushed to the bed and made a grab for Arinia.

A few Team Aqua members ran through the other door and surrounded the bed. Arinia looked scared and not sure what to do so Mark grabbed her and held her in his arms while this happened. The Team Aqua members took a few steps towards the Team Magma members. It seemed a fight would break out right there and then.

"Hand the girl over and no one gets hurt!" A Team Magma Admin said in very menacing tone.

"Uh-uh," said one of the Team Aqua members, shaking his head.

The Team Magma Admin pulled out a sleep dart and threw it at Arinia and when it hit her, Arinia cried out in pain before she slipped into sleep. A Team Aqua admin threw one of the other Team Magma Admins right out the door and a fight ensued.

Mark shook Arinia, "Arinia! Please open your eyes!"

Arinia twitched and opened her eyes a fraction of an inch.

"Arinia! Please wake up!" Mark cried afraid that he was going to lose her again.

Arinia opened her eyes all the way. "I'm...up..."

Mark threw his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead.

Meanwhile, Team Aqua was winning. The fight had led to the lobby and most of the Team Magma members were gone. After another twenty minutes, it was all over with Team Aqua emerging as the victors.

"HA! Take that, you lousy, stinkin' cowards!" A Team Aqua Executive shouted.

Now that Team Magma had taken off, they headed back to Arinia's room to see how Arinia was.

Arinia?" One of the Aqua Grunts asked. "Are you alright?"

Arinia looked up, "I'm fine......"

"That's good to hear," The grunt replied.

"I see a problem......" Bernard said speaking up again.

"What's that?" Mark asked.

"The Team Magma base is only thirty miles away and that could put her in danger....." Bernard said.

"Oh boy..." Another Grunt said.

"So what should we do about this?" Mark asked concerned.

"Get outta here in some way!" Bernard exclaimed.

"Where do you want to take her?" A hospital doctor asked.

"Team Aqua's base, which isn't much further, I think would be the safest place." An Admin replied.

"Then you have my leave to do so." The doctor replied with a nod.

Bernard nodded and unhooked her from her IV and helped her sit up and gently eased her into Mark's arms. Mark took her and leaned her head up against his shoulder. Arinia yawned and fell asleep again and Mark smiled since she looked so cute when she was sleeping. They took Arinia out of her room and carried her to the lobby where the doctor discharged Arinia from his care. The Team Aqua members now carried Arinia to their van they had come there in. When they reached it, Mark gave Arinia to a grunt and then climbed into the passenger seat and the grunt handed Arinia back to him. Bernard was invited to come with them since he had saved her, which was something he readily agreed to. Everyone boarded the van and a few minutes later, they were traveling back to their base where Arinia would be hidden to keep her safe from Team Magma. Arinia, not knowing what was going on since she was asleep knew next to nothing about what they were going to do and continued to sleep in peace as their van took them closer to their base with every passing moment.


	9. Helping Arinia Heal

Chapter 9

"Helping Arinia Heal"

The Team Aqua members continued to drive back to their base while Arinia continued to sleep with her head rested against Mark's shoulder. Mark was holding her and gently running fingers through her hair while she slept.

"Arinia...you're gonna be OK," Mark said softly, punctuating the statement with a sigh of relief.

"Mark, is she alright?" Bernard asked from the back seat.

"Well, you're the doctor, but she looks OK," Mark replied.

"Yeah, she looks OK to me too!" Bernard agreed.

Right on cue, Arinia stirred and woke up.

"Hey, Arinia," Mark said, "How ya feeling?"

"Okay, though I'm still exhausted." Arinia replied.

"As odd as this probably sounds, so am I, but you're probably worse..." Mark replied.

Arinia hugged him weakly and snuggled against him as she shifted. Mark snuggled her back and smiled, but didn't say anything.

"Mmmm, Mark......." Arinia said trying to stay still.

Bernard smiled in the back at the two hugging each other. Arinia yawned and laid her head against Mark's shoulder again. Mark pulled his fingers softly through Arinia's hair and smiled. Arinia yawned again and fell back asleep but jolted back awake when their van hit a bump.

"Woooooah, nelly!" The driver cried, after the van nailed a big bump. He steadied the van...but they began slowing down. "Huh?"

Arinia yawned again and fell back asleep not understanding what had just happened.

Two of the Team Aqua members got out of the car to investigate what had happened. After realizing there was a flat tire, one of them cursed. "Hey, everyone! Outta the car! We've got a flat tire here!"

Mark moved Arinia and started to follow. A Team Aqua Admin grabbed the jack that was in the trunk and looked in the van to see if anyone was still in it.

"Alright, no one." He placed the jack under the van and began to turn the crank. Slowly but surely, the van's back wheel that was flat lifted off the ground.

Arinia shifted from where Mark was holding her in his arms but she didn't awaken.

Another Admin handed him a wrench to take the bolts off the tire. After that, he removed the wheel. "Can anyone hand me the spare?"

"I wish I could, but I've got my hands full." Mark said looking at his little bundle who was sound asleep in his arms.

A Grunt handed the Admin the spare who fitted it on and replaced the bolts. "All done!" He lowered the car and placed the jack back in the trunk. "All aboard!" He hopped back into the driver's seat.

A grunt offered to take Arinia for a minute so that Mark could get back into the car.

"Yeah, thanks." Mark handed Arinia to the grunt and jumped back in the car. The Grunt followed suit after handing Arinia back to Mark.

"She's sound asleep?" Mark's fellow Admin, who was driving inquired.

"Yep, she is...no one wake her, OK?" Mark replied.

Arinia clung on tightly to the teddy bear Mark had given her.

"Aaaaw," Bernard replied, "Now that's just cute..."

"I know, she's precious." Mark replied.

The Admin kept on driving. "Well, it looks like we're almost there..."

Mark looked down at Arinia who shifted in her sleep and snuggled closer to him. Mark hugged her back in silence. He didn't say a word. Just then one of the grunts cell phones went off with a very loud ring tone.

"Ah...crap, sorry..." He answered it and with a whisper, said, "Hello?"

Arinia shifted and woke up looking upset that she had been woken up.

The grunt looked at her in a way that said, "Sorry about that..."

Arinia held her bear and laid her head back against Mark's shoulder and tried to go back to sleep.

The grunt hung up. "Alright, look. The call was from an Executive. He said that they had some security outside the base for us just in case."

"Because we're bringing Arinia back?" The Admin who was driving asked.

"Bingo," The grunt replied, "We don't want her taken AGAIN, of course."

Arinia was still only semi-asleep and shook in fear at the thought of being recaptured.

"Oh no...sorry for bringing that up, Arinia..." The grunt apologized.

Arinia nodded sleepily and fell back asleep.

"Alright, we're here," The Admin who was driving added, "And, by God, look at everyone!" There must have been over fifty Team Aqua members with Pokémon standing around waiting for them. He jumped out of the car and looked at everybody.

Mark followed a minute later carrying Arinia and the Team Aqua members on guard duty looked at her curiously. Mark and all the Team Aqua members that were in the van entered the base and stood in the main hall, most of them looking around.

The Executive who had called came over and looked at the little girl Mark was carrying. "Is this little thing Arinia?" He asked.

Mark looked at him angrily. "YES, it's Arinia, but she's not a little thing."

"Oh..... I'm sorry! I misjudged her size....." The Executive replied.

"Hmm," Mark muttered, not really trusting this guy.

The Executive flashed Mark his badge to prove that he was who he said he was.

"Alright, alright, I got it. At least I now know you're an Executive." Mark nodded.

"Yup, sorry if I made ya think otherwise........" The Executive said.

"Yeah, yeah, move it along," A grunt replied.

"Right, got it." The Executive answered, as he began to walk down the hallway.

"Oh yeah..... The boss wanted you to come see him once you arrived. He didn't mind if you brought Arinia with you. He said it would only take a few minutes." The Executive replied.

"Right." Mark nodded, walking down the hallway to a door that said "ARCHIE" on it. Mark knocked.

Archie slowly opened the door. "Ah, hello Mark, I've been expecting in!" He walked into the room to let Mark pass.

Mark followed him into the room still holding Arinia in his arms.

"Ah, so is that Arinia?" Archie asked turning around. "I can't believe Team Magma would do something like that to such a innocent girl..."

"I can't believe it either." Mark said with a deep sigh as he looked at Arinia and held her close.

"Anyway, Archie, what is it you needed me for?" Mark asked.

"For this." Archie held out an Executive pin to Mark.

"Oh, wow...thanks...uh, can you just stick it in my pocket or something, I got my hands full," He replied, in awe.

"Sure thing." Archie replied as he stuck it into Mark's pocket. "Now who was that other man that came in with the rest of you? He was dressed like a doctor."

"Ah, that was Bernard. He used to be a doctor for Team Magma, but don't worry. He ditched the place and he's on our side now." He explained.

"Great! I think I'll hire him if he'll accept." Archie said smiling.

"Cool, want to go get him?" Mark asked.

"I sure do." Archie said. "I'll be right back, oh and feel free to take a seat on my couch if you want to." Archie turned and left the room.

Mark sat on the couch and placed Arinia's head softly on his chest.

"I love you Arinia..... You'll be safe here, I promise!" Mark whispered in her ear as she slept.

Arinia seemed to smile in her sleep and also seemed to nod. Mark smiled at her and kissed her on her forehead. Just then, the door opened and Archie stepped inside followed by Bernard, who shut the door.

Archie walked over to Mark and looked at Arinia again and then faced Bernard, "So while you were Team Magma's doctor did you ever take care of Mark's little sweetheart?"

Bernard nodded. "Yes I did, and when I quit Team Magma, I took Arinia with me so that's how she's where she is now."

Mark smiled at him and hugged Arinia gently.

"Let's get to the point," Archie replied, "Would you like to join Team Aqua?" He asked.

"To do the same thing I did for Team Magma as a doctor?" Bernard questioned.

"Well, sure, of course!" Archie exclaimed with a nod.

"Sure." Bernard replied.

"Then it's settled. Here is your badge." Archie handed Bernard a bronze badge with the word "GRUNT" on it in red letters. "You start out as a Grunt, obviously. Then you can get promoted to an Executive and then to an Admin."

Arinia shifted and began to wake up.

"Hey, Arinia." Mark said, quietly.

Archie looked over at Arinia, "And the sweet kid is awake."

Bernard flashed his new badge at Arinia and smiled. "Hi."

Arinia smiled at Bernard and then hugged Mark.

Bernard walked over to the two and showed his badge up close to Arinia. "I just got hired into Team Aqua. See?"

Arinia nodded and hugged Mark again. Mark hugged her back and kissed her on the forehead.

"Is Arinia still sick?" Archie inquired.

"No, I feel a lot better," Arinia replied, even though she was slightly lying.

"Don't be shy, I'm not going to hurt you, you can trust us, we want to help you. So I'll ask you again, do you still feel sick?" Archie asked her kindly.

"Yeah, sort of," Arinia admitted.

"Then we'll take care of you so that you can get well." Archie told her sweetly.

"Good plan." Mark said, with a nod.

Archie looked at Bernard, "Bernard are you ready to put your skills into action and take care of her for us?"

Bernard cracked his knuckles. "It feels far too long since I've treated Arinia. Of course!"

Mark scooped Arinia into his arms and carefully passed her to Bernard.

Bernard smiled, which quickly turned into a frown. "Where's the infirmary?"

"It's up one floor and on the far end of the hall there on the right." Archie replied.

"Got it," He replied, who walked off to the infirmary.

"So what should I do now, boss." Mark asked.

"Um...follow him. You want to see Arinia, correct? Help him with anything he may need." Archie replied.

"Right boss." Mark replied. Mark walked off, following Arinia and Bernard to the infirmary as well.

When Mark reached the infirmary, he found Arinia in a bed relaxing while Bernard went to get medicine for her.

"Hey, Arinia," Mark said, sitting on a chair at her bedside, "What's going on?"

"Not much, I just don't feel very well....." Arinia replied.

"Yeah, I guessed as much..." Mark said, with a sigh.

Arinia smiled at him weakly. Mark hugged her for what was probably the thousandth time that day.

"I love you Mark." Arinia said quietly before she started coughing.

"Same here..." Mark agreed.

Just then Bernard appeared with the medicine Arinia needed to take to get well and unfortunately for her that included her getting a few shots.

Arinia gasped. "Aw, man...I hate shots!"

"I'm sorry, my dear, but there's no other way. I don't want to give them to you if you don't like them but there's no other choice if you want to get well quickly." Bernard told her grimly.

"Oh, well...shoot away..." Arinia said, shrugging.

"So I guess I'll give them to you now as much as I don't want to." Bernard told her with a deep sigh.

Arinia rolled up her sleeve and grimaced. Bernard took her arm and cleaned a place on it and began to give her the shots. Arinia shook and almost started to cry after each one. Mark threw his arms around her and held her as much as he could while Arinia was getting her shots.

Arinia swallowed after her last shot and shook. She was close to tears. "Hey, Arinia," Mark asked softly, "You alright?"

Arinia nodded but then jumped when she saw that Bernard still had another shot to give her. Arinia gulped as the needle drew closer to her arm... Mark hugged Arinia gently and leaned her head against his shoulder so she couldn't see the needle.

Arinia received the one last shot. Bernard took the needle out of her arm and nodded. "You're all done!"

Arinia started to cry since she hated shots and the ones she had gotten had really hurt. Mark reached behind him and pulled out another stuffed animal to give to her.

Arinia took the stuffed animal and hugged it, calming down. "Thanks, Mark..."

"Shh..... Just take it easy....." Mark told her. Mark hugged her as well. "You'll be OK..."

"Mark......" Arinia coughed hard which was followed by several more coughs.

Bernard looked at her. "Hey, you OK?"

"I..... I.... Think so...." Arinia choked out between coughs.

Bernard pricked her finger just in case. He then took out a cotton swab and took a sample of her saliva, then ran into his office.

"Arinia...... Be strong, sweetheart....." Mark murmured so only she could hear.

Arinia nodded and stopped crying, just breathing heavily. Mark took Arinia in his arms and hugged her. Then he laid her head against his shoulder and just held her. A little while later, Bernard came out of his office frowning.

"What's wrong?" Mark asked worried.

"She's got pneumonia...small traces from the tranquilizers that made her sick were still in her bloodstream and gave her pneumonia," He replied.

"Oh, NO!" Mark cried. "Will she have to stay here for a while?"

Bernard nodded, "Yes, she's going to have to. I've heard of people who've died from pneumonia and I don't want her to be one of them."

"Well, at least she'll be safe," Mark replied, "Right?"

"I'll do my best......." Bernard told him seriously. "I don't want to lose her anymore than you do."

"Right then," Mark said, "What's next?"

"Let her rest for now, she'll need more medicine later but she needs to rest now." Bernard replied.

Mark nodded then got up to leave.

"Mark?" Arinia said softly.

He turned around. "Yes?"

Arinia smiled, "I love you...."

Mark smiled back. "So do I..."

Just then the door opened and Archie entered.

"Oh, hi, Archie!" Mark said. "Whatcha need?"

"I just wanted to check on Arinia, how is she by the way?" Archie replied.

"She's got pneumonia." Bernard replied. "The tranquilizers that Maxie gave to her were still in her blood stream. It gave her pneumonia."

"Oh no....." Archie walked over to Arinia and looked at her concerned since she was still only a child.

Arinia tried to sit up, but became very dizzy, so she laid back down.

"Easy Arinia...." Mark murmured putting a hand on her chest.

"Are you sure you know how to take care of her now that you now she has pneumonia?" Archie asked Bernard seriously with concern clearly in his eyes.

"O-of course!" He said, with a nod, although he wasn't entirely sure.

"You not entirely sure are you?" Archie asked.

"Eeeeeh...no...I've only treated a patient of pneumonia once..." Bernard replied.

"Would you prefer to have her moved to a hospital where they've treated people for pneumonia more often?" Archie asked looking at Arinia and how sick she seemed to be.

"Yes. That would be better." Bernard replied.

"Do you want us to take her there now?" Archie asked.

"Of course, the sooner the better." Bernard replied.

"Should I come?" Mark replied.

Arinia looked desperately at Mark clearly not wanting to be alone when she was taken to the hospital.

"I see that look on your face. Yeah, I'll come," He said with a smile.

Arinia smiled and then promptly fainted. Bernard lifted Arinia onto a stretcher and wheeled her out of the room with Mark following. Archie came out of the room carrying a blanket and walked beside the stretcher and covered Arinia with it to help keep her warm. They wheeled Arinia down several hallways and took her to the entrance hall where they took her outside and loaded her into the back of a Team Aqua ambulance.

"I'll send some members after you as soon as you leave, until then, Mark it's up to you to protect her, and as for you Bernard, I want you to help Mark in anyway you can if the need arises."

Mark and Bernard nodded then they scrambled inside the ambulance and closed the doors. Once they were inside, the driver started up the engine and began to drive them towards the nearest hospital, which was a great distance from Team Magma's base so that she wouldn't be found by them and pestered while she was sick. All that could be done now was to get Arinia to a hospital where she could be treated for her pneumonia and that in itself would take some time as the hospital was a good distance away.


	10. Sick Days

Chapter 10 

"Sick Days"

Back in the car, Arinia wasn't looking too good. She was hanging on, but she still felt bad.

"Mark..." Arinia managed to say, "I feel miserable..."

"Don't worry," he said calmly, "I'm right here for you."

Arinia smiled faintly but seemed to be really worn out and exhausted. Mark draped his arm across her and pulled her in a tight hug, only moving her slightly. Arinia snuggled against him some since she felt too bad to try to hug him.

"We're nearly at the hospital," The Admin said, "So get ready." Mark nodded and lifted Arinia into his arms. "And here we are!" He announced.

Arinia laid her head against Mark's shoulder knowing that her future was looking rocky since it would be a long road to recovery to recover from her pneumonia. Mark slowly picked up Arinia and slid out of the car since the Admin had opened the door. Arinia wasn't sure whether or not to be happy that they were there since she had a feeling that she would be getting some more shots once she'd been placed in the hospital. Mark walked up the pathway to the hospital, opened the door, and ran to the front desk.

The woman at the front desk looked up, saw Arinia in Mark's arms and then looked him dead in the eye and asked, "What happened to her?"

"...pneumonia..." he replied sadly.

"How do you know? Has someone else checked or is that just your guess?" The woman asked.

Bernard walked over to Mark and said, "I told him. I'm a doctor for Team Aqua."

The woman nodded, "Got it....." The woman then hit a button to summon a hospital doctor.

A hospital doctor came running with a stretcher. "Here, put her on this!" He commanded.

Mark hugged her quickly before he laid her on the stretcher like the doctor wanted. The doctor ran off, pushing the stretcher towards the ER. Arinia looked back at Mark and there was a slightly scared expression on her face.

Mark followed quickly.

The doctor stopped and looked at Mark, "Are you family?"

"No, but we're extremely good friends." Mark replied.

"Are you her boyfriend? If you are that is an exception by which you can go in with her, if not you'll have to wait outside." The doctor told him studying him carefully.

Mark frowned. Did he consider himself her boyfriend? He didn't really know. "I...guess...I'm her boyfriend," Mark admitted.

Arinia looked at him a little surprised that he had said that not that she minded, though it had surprised her a little. Mark stepped into the emergency room with the doctors and Arinia. Arinia coughed hard as she looked at Mark who was standing as close to her as he could so that the doctors could tend to her.

"Here you go," A doctor said, pouring some cough syrup into Arinia's mouth. "Just swallow it...it'll help, trust us."

Arinia swallowed it and tried to move a bit but got really dizzy so she quit moving.

"Don't move, it won't help," a doctor explained, placing a hand on her stomach.

Arinia nodded weakly since she still felt very dizzy.

Mark looked concerned, as he gulped. "Don't worry," he whispered, "You're gonna be fine..."

Arinia's eyelids fluttered as she fought to stay awake since something seemed to be lulling her into sleep.

"It's the cough syrup. Nighty-night..." A doctor said softly.

Arinia's eyelids fluttered once more before they closed as she slipped into sleep.

"We're going to move her into a real room now," a doctor said, as he began to move her stretcher.

Mark nodded and started to follow them.

He pushed the stretcher into the room. "Here we are..."

Arinia was sleeping peacefully by now as they moved her into the bed in her room. Once she was in the bed, Mark covered her up and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"Have a good rest, Arinia," Mark said softly.

"Should we go get that other person who came in with you?" A doctor asked Mark.

"Yeah, why not." Mark said with a nod.

The doctor nodded and went to get Bernard while the other stayed with Arinia to monitor her progress.

"She's doing fine, so far," the doctor said, looking at Mark.

Mark nodded then he said, "Bernard, the guy who came in with me is a doctor for Team Aqua, he said that he thought she had pneumonia......"

The doctor whistled. "Well, we'll check that out. Pneumonia is certainly bad."

"Bernard was taking care of her for awhile and he ran a few tests and gave her some medicine, you might want to talk to him about what he did." Mark told the doctor.

"Got it. I'll ask him when he comes in." He replied.

Mark nodded in response and his gaze fell on Arinia and how cute she looked in her sleep. Mark smiled and took her teddy bear and her plush doggie stuffed animal and carefully eased them under her arm so that they could help her feel better.

"Aawwww..." The doctor replied, smiling at how cute Arinia looked.

Mark smiled, "I know, she's precious......"

"Yeah..." The doctor answered.

Just then the door opened and Bernard and the other doctor came in.

"Nice to meet you." Bernard replied shaking the doctor's hand.

"Say, um, I'd like to ask you...how did you figure out that Arinia had pneumonia?" The doctor inquired.

"I took a blood test, and I took a cotton ball and got a sample of her saliva and then analyzed it." Bernard replied.

"Then I'll do that. This should prove if she does have pneumonia," The doctor replied, as he took a blood test quickly.

Bernard nodded and watched him do it. The doctor then took a sample of saliva and walked into his office to examine it. A few minutes later, the doctor returned frowning.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"We were right. She does have pneumonia." He said.

Mark gulped concerned since this didn't sound good at all.

"She's going to have to stay here a while. Again." Bernard replied.

One of the doctors nodded at his words, "That's right, she does have to stay here for awhile." He paused, "By the way, do you have any idea how she might have gotten her pneumonia?"

"The tranquilizers Team Magma gave her," Bernard replied.

The doctor nodded. "Well, what's important now is to make sure that she doesn't die from it." He said firmly.

"Of course. But, um, how long will she be here?" Mark asked.

"I'd say at least a month." The other doctor replied.

"Oh well. Well, at least she'll be safe here." Mark answered.

The doctor nodded, "I hope so..... We'll do all that we can for her."

"Good." Mark replied.

The doctor nodded, and just then Arinia started to stir as she began to wake up from her sleep.

"Ah, Arinia..." Bernard replied. "Are you alright?"

"I think so......." Arinia replied pulling her covers up some more as she was feeling cold.

"How are you feeling right now?" A doctor asked.

"Cold......." Arinia replied quietly as she tried to suppress a shiver.

Mark put two more blankets on her bed softly. "There...that'll help..."

Arinia snuggled under them and held her stuffed animals close.

"That better?" Mark asked.

Arinia nodded in response.

"Good..." He replied.

Arinia smiled weakly at him.

Mark hugged her close. "Don't worry...I'm gonna be fine...you will too..."

Arinia nodded and smiled at Mark as he continued to look at her lovingly as Mark continued to hold her close.


	11. Tornado Fright

Chapter 11 

"Tornado Fright"

A doctor burst into the room. He was breathing heavily. "Quickly! We have to get into the basement! There's a tornado warning!" He left the room.

Arinia looked at Mark and pulled her animals closer not sure what to do.

Mark quickly picked her up. "I really shouldn't move you, but we really don't have a choice." He put her on a stretcher sitting outside the door and ran with Bernard following.

Mark was weaving through people with the stretcher, trying frantically to get to the basement so Arinia would not be harmed. Just then a roaring sound was heard over all the racket.

"That's the tornado! RUN!" A doctor cried. The speed picked up as everyone eventually made it to the basement.

Everyone crowded into the basement and waited for the roaring to stop. Arinia was looking at Mark with wide eyes, she was really scared and she still didn't feel very well.

"OK...I think it's passed." Mark said quietly, as the roar had subsided and people were returning.

People ran back into the basement. "There's two of em! The one that past was the smallest one! There's a monster one still out there, and we're right in it's path!" Someone cried.

Mark swore as he ran to get to the center of the room so it would be harder for him to get hit.

"Mark, what's going to happen?" Arinia was trembling she was so scared and her eyes were wide open.

"I don't know...we're safe here, don't worry...I hope..." He explained quietly.

Arinia shook and held her animals even closer as she clamped her eyes tightly shut. The roaring grew louder as the tornado approached. There was a thunderous crash as the tornado connected. There were more extremely loud crashes.

Arinia shrieked and shot up and threw her arms around Mark. There were many more crashes until there was nothing but silence. As the silence hit, Arinia realized that she had been shaking while she had been holding onto Mark for dear life as she held her animals as she hugged him.

Someone ran upstairs to check on what happened. "Oh...my...god..."

"What happened?" Someone Arinia couldn't see asked.

"It's a complete disaster up here," a doctor shouted, "There's a lot of things destroyed and I mean a LOT."

"Mark, what's going to happen now?" Arinia asked as she continued to cling to him for dear life.

"I don't know...should we go upstairs and see what happens?" Mark asked.

"I guess..." Arinia let go of Mark and laid back down still clutching her animals tightly. "Though you're the one who's got control of the bed I'm lying on at the moment... I'm just laying here since I'm the one who's sick..."

Mark rode up an elevator back up, which was not destroyed. When he reached the top, and the doors opened, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a complete disaster. Arinia's eyes widened, she couldn't believe what she was seeing after the tornado did a number on the hospital.

"Aw, jeez..." Mark groaned, pushing the stretcher around and through the rubble.

"Mark?" Arinia asked.

"Yeah?" Mark replied.

"What's going to happen now?" Arinia asked.

"You know, I don't really know," he replied, then he gasped. "What about Bernard? We gotta try and find him!"

"Don't worry, Mark, I'm right behind you." Bernard replied.

Mark whirled around. "Hey, where'd you come from?"

"I came up the stairway... Took awhile to get up but I'm here just the same..." Bernard replied shifting his foot slightly.

"Whew, that's a relief..." He replied.

A doctor ran over to Arinia and checked to make sure that she was okay, then when he saw that she was, he sighed with relief.

"Isn't it funny, a twenty minute storm caused all this damage..." Bernard replied.

The doctor nodded before he said, "We're moving all the patients to another hospital. We're sending them Fortree since that's the next closest town to here..."

"Eh...were any patients killed?" Mark asked, "And how are they getting to Fortree?"

"None were killed thankfully, though the hospital is a total wreck... It'll take a long time to rebuild." The doctor replied.

"Yeah, we can see that," Mark replied.

Arinia moaned since she still didn't feel too well.

"How are you transporting the patients to Fortree?"

"We're having them air-lifted to Fortree, that's what we're gonna do." The doctor replied.

"Are any planes or helicopters here yet?" Mark asked.

"Yes, and one is about to leave so we need to make sure she's on it!" The doctor cried.

Mark ran out of the door in the basement pushing Arinia quickly. He ran up to the helicopter, but it was hard with the rotating blades. Arinia shielded her eyes from the harsh wind as she waited for them to load her into the helicopter. A few doctors lifted the stretcher into the helicopter and buckled it into place. Mark climbed aboard and shut the door behind him.

The door swung open again as Bernard climbed aboard. "What about me?" He asked with a laugh.

"Heh, sorry..." Mark replied looking at Arinia as he spoke. Bernard shut the door and took a seat next to Mark.

The helicopter blades began to rotate generating a greater wave of wind as the helicopter began to take off.

Bernard sighed. "Jeez, a tornado hits the hospital. Wouldn't you know it."

"Yup, and if you'll look out your right window you can see the monster that did it!" The pilot yelled back.

Mark looked out the window and he gasped. "Daaaaaaaang...look at that thing!"

"What does it look like Mark?" Arinia asked trying to sit up so she could see it.

"Huge gray spinning cloud!" Mark replied.

"Can I see?" Arinia asked still trying to sit up. "I might not ever see another."

Mark raised Arinia's head slightly and pulled the stretcher closer to the window.

Arinia's eyes widened, "WOW! That thing's huge!"

Bernard stared. "That's a sucker of a storm. I feel bad for anyone else it hits."

Arinia looked at Mark, "Mark, I think that thing's about to go tearing through Petalburg!"

"It looks like it," Bernard replied. "Yep," Mark answered.

Just then the tornado hit a building and glass and debris started to fly everywhere as the tornado continued its merciless artillery barrage.

"I wonder if the tornado hit the gym," Mark said, thinking out loud.

"Lets hope it didn't..." Arinia said still staring at the huge swirling spiraling black cloud that continued to wreck havoc on the town of Petalburg.


	12. Tornado Terror

Chapter 12

"Tornado Terror"

"Uh...guys," Bernard said. As the tornado shifted and seemed to be starting to backtrack towards the helicopter.

"What?" The pilot asked.

"Be careful...I think the tornado's coming towards us!" Bernard warned.

"Not again! I've had enough with that monster!" Arinia wailed.

"He's right," Mark said, "It's gonna hit us!"

There was sudden blackness as the tornado enveloped the helicopter.

There were many crashes as the helicopter began to jerk all over the place, with the pilot unable to control it.

Arinia clamped her eyes shut since she was scared and the sudden movements were starting to make her queasy.

"AAAAH! WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Mark cried.

There was much swearing up front from the pilot, struggling to keep the copter under control.

Arinia groaned, "Ugh, all this tossing and swirling and whatever the heck it is, is starting to make me sick..."

There was a massive THUD as the helicopter hit something. "We hit a tree!" The pilot cried.

The rocking of the copter stopped suddenly and light poured in. They were out of the tornado.

"Mark..." Arinia croaked sounding a little worn out and sick from the ordeal of the tornado ride.  
"Y-y-yeah..." Mark choked out.

"Can you help me lie back down? I don't want to see anymore of that darn freaking monster." Arinia asked.

"G-g-good idea..." Mark lay Arinia's head back down and pushed the stretcher back into place.

"I bet the helicopter is badly damaged," Bernard said, "But it's gonna be good enough for us to get to Fortree...right?"

"No need to take such a chance, there's an air force academy here, we should stop there and let them inspect it to make sure it's safe." The pilot replied firmly. The helicopter began to sink slowly, as the pilot was landing.

"What's happening?" Arinia questioned.

"We're just landing so we can get a crew to check out the copter." The pilot replied.

"Oh, ok." Arinia replied.

The helicopter touched down as the pilot turned it off. "Everyone stay in, I'll go contact a crew member." He got out of the copter.

Everyone stayed where they were as he went to do what he said he was going to. There was some muffled talking outside and then a panel opened in the front as the crew checked out the engine.

The pilot climbed back inside. "Alright, we're going to have to change copters, the engine is badly damaged." He climbed back out and opened the side doors.

Arinia started coughing, her pneumonia was starting to act up again. Bernard climbed out and helped Mark with Arinia's stretcher. They carried it to the new helicopter, which was dark blue, and pushed it in.

"Mark..." Arinia croaked.

"Yeah?" Mark asked, climbing into the new copter himself.

"I think my pneumonia's starting to act up..." Arinia moaned, trying to stifle a cough.

"Oh boy." Mark said, "At least we have Bernard..." The helicopter started up.

Arinia nodded, but a moment later she couldn't no matter hard she tried to stifle a few more coughs.

Bernard looked worried as he looked as Arinia. "Are you OK?"

Arinia groaned but couldn't reply since she had started coughing too hard.

Bernard took out the bottle of cough syrup. "Good thing I kept this..." He poured some into her mouth.

Arinia swallowed it, but then started to get drowsy.

Mark looked at the bottle. "Strong stuff..."

Bernard nodded and then pointed to Arinia who was trying to collect her stuffed animals from where they had fallen off her bed while she was taking the cough medicine. Mark bent over and grabbed the stuffed animals. He laid Arinia's head on the bed and handed her the animals. Arinia smiled as her eyes started to drift shut as she wrapped her arm around her animals.

Mark smiled back, but she couldn't see it. "Heh...she looks adorable..."

Bernard nodded, "Yes, she sure does..."

Everything was silent for a moment, just the motor of the helicopter was heard.

"What's happening!" Mark cried.

"Whoever said anything WAS happening?" Bernard replied.

Mark sighed, "I….. I'm just on edge…. The tornado really shook me up.…"

Bernard nodded, sighing. "Same here. I'm a doctor, and I felt like I was going to vomit."

Mark nodded then Bernard looked at Mark and asked, "Does Arinia's parents know about what's happened to her?"

Mark's eyes widened. "Oh dear. Throughout this whole ordeal with her getting kidnapped, the tranquilizers, the tornado...I forgot she had parents!"

"You better contact them, I bet you more than anything that Arinia really misses them. She probably puts up with the distance because she loves you." Bernard said looking at Mark with a stern kind of look.

Mark pulled out his cell phone without a second thought. Mark began to dial a number then put the phone up to his ear. There was a "CLICK" of a phone picking up. "Hello? Ah, is this Rosella? It's Mark, Arinia's boyfriend. I have some things to tell you about Arinia….."

"What's wrong with my baby!" Rosella cried once Mark had finished speaking.

"Alright, calm down...she was kidnapped by Team Magma, BUT I got her back. As it turns out, she had been given some tranquilizers while there that she was allergic to. This eventually developed into pneumonia." Mark said trying to calm Arinia's mother down so he could speak. "The pneumonia has died down quite a bit," Mark continued, "But she's still got some traces of it."

Arinia's mother sighed with relief, "That's wonderful... Steven would be frantic with worry if I told him she wasn't..."

Mark nodded. "Say, I have a question...is it possible I could get a job at Evergrande?"

"What for?" Rosella asked.

"Y'know, maybe I could make some more money and we could get Arinia moved into a hospital..." Mark replied.

"I don't know if that can be arranged, I don't think the Elite hire anyone without gym badges..." Rosella replied.

"Oh...OK..." Mark replied, saddened. "Alright, I understand..."

"I could be wrong though, but I don't think I am." Rosella replied.

"Can you ask Steven?" He asked.

"Sure." Rosella replied.

Just then a door opened at Rosella's end and a voice called, "Rosella, honey, I'm home!"

"Perfect timing!" Mark said, with a slight laugh.

Steven came into the room where Rosella was clutching the phone tightly with a serious look on her face.

Steven looked at Rosella oddly. "What's wrong?"

"Arinia has pneumonia..." She replied sadly.

Steven's eyes widened. "Oh no...um, who are you talking to?"

"Mark." Rosella replied softly.

Steven held out his hand. "Lemme speak to him."

Rosella handed him the phone.

"Hello?" He said into it. "Am I talking to Mark? This is Steven."

"Yes, this is Mark."

"Right, good," Steven said, "You said Arinia had pneumonia?"

"Yeah, I did... Team Magma drugged her and she reacted to their medicines and it made her really sick..." Mark replied slowly.

Steven grumbled. "Ugh...is there anything you wanted to ask me while I'm talking to you?"

"I dunno..." Mark replied.

Just then Arinia moaned and tried to sit up.

"What was that?" Steven asked.

"It was Arinia, she just woke up from a nap." Mark replied.

"Is she alright?" Steven inquired.

"I…. I think so." Mark replied. "Do you want to speak to her?"

"Sure." Steven replied with a nod that Mark couldn't see.

Mark handed Arinia the phone after whispering in her ear who was on the other end. Arinia took the phone and very sleepily said, "Daddy?"

"Hi Arinia." Steven replied sounding relieved to hear his daughter's voice.

"I miss you dad….." Arinia said softly.

"I miss you too." Steven replied.

Just then Arinia started coughing so hard that it became impossible for her to continue speaking on the phone with her father.

Steven gasped when he finally saw how sick his daughter actually was, "Arinia….. A-are you OK?"

The only response Steven received was more coughing since Arinia was coughing too hard to reply. Bernard took the phone away from Arinia and laid her down and put some more cough medicine in her mouth and gently touched her throat to help her swallow.

"My….. Poor……. Baby…….." Steven moaned when it finally sunk in that Arinia was too sick to continue speaking on the phone to him.

"They're moving her by helicopter to Fortree." Mark stated trying to break the silence.

"That's all fine and good, but I would prefer her to be close to people I know, I would prefer if she were moved to Evergrande." Steven told Mark sounding like a very protective father.

"What? Steven, you want her moved to Evergrande?" Mark replied in awe.

Steven nodded a nod that Mark couldn't see, "Yes, I want her in Evergrande since that's where the Elite are, and they can help protect my baby from Team Magma."

"Hold on for a moment!" Mark said in delight.

He dropped the phone and ran to the cockpit. "Hey, man, turn 'dis thing around! Steven said he wanted Arinia in Evergrande."

"WHAT? She's his little girl? WOW! OF course, I can do that!" The pilot replied quickly. The pilot spun the control yolk and the helicopter did a complete 360. He began to fly in the other direction, as fast as the helicopter could move.

Mark ran back to the phone. "OK, I delivered the news to the pilot and we're en route now!"

Steven nodded a nod Mark couldn't see and let out a deep sigh, it seemed that the news of how sick his little girl was had taken an immense toll on him.

"This whole thing has been quite a mess, eh, Steven?" Mark asked, with a sigh.

"You can say that again since it would be true..." Steven replied with a sigh. "Drake's been dying to see Arinia again, he hasn't seen her since she was a baby."

"Drake? The dragon dude?" Mark replied.

"Yeah, him... He's been wanting to see Arinia for several months now..." Steven went on.

"What about Glacia?" Mark questioned.

"She adores Arinia, she's almost like an aunt to her." Steven replied.

Mark grinned. "Ah, that's great to hear..."

"What does Sidney think of her," Mark asked, "And last but not least, Phoebe?"

"Sidney's like an uncle to her, while Phoebe is like a distant aunt since Arinia doesn't know her very well." Steven replied.

Mark chuckled at that. "Yeah...yeah, it'll be great to see the Elite Four, if I do..."

"They'll probably meet you when you land, they're usually training outside on the practice fields." Steven told him.

Mark smiled. "Really? Ha-ha! I'm gonna meet the Elite Four...WOW..."

"They'd want to meet you, since you saved her from Team Magma." Steven replied with the utmost sincerity.

"Well, I didn't do it all by myself...Bernard helped me...so did Archie and some Team Aqua members..."

"I know that, but you're more or less the one she knows best." Steven told him seriously.

"HEY!" The pilot shouted. "We're nearly at Evergrande!"

Arinia murmured a soft, "daddy" from where she lay.

"Heh...Steven, did you hear that? The pilot said we're nearly there and Arinia said "daddy." Oh yeah, she can't wait either!" Mark exclaimed.

"I probably should call Drake and let him know what's going on..." Steven said.

"OK, I'll let you go do that. See you, Steven." Mark said.

"Bye." Steven hung up the phone and dialed Drake's cell phone number.

Mark hung up and stuck the phone in his pocket. He sighed and leaned back in the chair.


	13. New Friends Abound

Chapter 13

"New Friends Abound"

Back at Steven's end, the phone was ringing as he was calling Drake's cell phone after a minute or two, Drake finally picked up his cell phone.

"Hello? This is Drake, who is this?"

Steven grinned. "Hi, Drake. This is Steven."

"How is everything?" Drake asked. "Oh and how is your little girl?"

"I was just talking to Mark about that...Arinia got kidnapped, shot with tranquilizers that she was allergic to and caught pneumonia..." Steven explained depressed, "At least Mark told the pilot of the helicopter to bring her here to Evergrande..."

"Oh no..." Drake moaned. "The poor thing... Where is she do you know?"

"Mark said the copter was almost here." Steven replied.

"I think I see the helicopter...there's one in the air that's fairly close to the ground..." Drake said.

"You do!" Steven asked.

"Yeah," Drake replied, "It's touching down...nnnnnnnow..."

The helicopter blades began to whir as they came to a stop.

"It's landed!" Drake cried.

The helicopter door opened as Bernard hopped out, then turned around to help Mark with the stretcher.

Drake looked back over and saw them moving a stretcher with a little girl on it, who seemed to be old enough to be Steven's little girl.

Drake ran over. "Hey! Excuse me?"

"Can I help you?" Bernard asked as Mark looked on while watching Arinia.

"I'm Drake," he replied. "From the Elite Four."

"Steven mentioned you when I was talking to him on the phone about ten minutes ago." Mark told him.

"Yeah, that'd be me," Drake said with a nod.

Arinia shifted and started to wake up. "Mark looked at her and said, "Arinia... It's okay... You're safe now..."

Drake walked over to the stretcher. "So you're Arinia..."

Arinia nodded and tried to sit up but then started coughing so hard that she had to lie back down. Bernard took out his bottle of cough syrup so he had it if he needed it.

Drake looked at Arinia and asked, "How are you feeling, little one?"

"Sick and hungry..." She replied weakly.

Drake nodded somberly and then walked with them as they took her to the hospital. As they were passing the training field, the other Elite four members saw him and came over to see what was going on.

"Drake?" Sidney asked, "Who's the girl?"

"Yeah and what's going on?" Phoebe also asked.

"This is Arinia, she was recently kidnapped and drugged by Team Magma and caught pneumonia according to what Steven said after getting the news from Mark." Drake pointed to Mark.

"Arinia?" Glacia cried, "Wow, you've gotten big..."

"Glacia.… It's good to see you again..." Arinia murmured.

Drake pointed towards the door. "Let's go inside." He began walking, with Mark pushing the stretcher.

Arinia moved a bit and her stuffed animals came into view. Arinia hugged them and began to hold her teddy bear and her plush doggie closer.

"Aw..." Sidney replied. "That's cute..."

Just then Steven appeared running as fast as he could to get to his little girl. "Arinia, my baby!"

"HOLY!" Drake cried out, "Where'd HE come from?"

Arinia sat up. "Daddy..."

"Arinia! My baby! How are you sweetie?" Steven came over to his little girl and hugged her.

"I'm just sick and hungry..." Arinia replied.

Steven kissed his daughter on her forehead and tucked her in a little. "My baby... My poor baby..."

"I'm OK, Dad, sort of." Arinia said, not liking being made a fuss of like this.

"We should get her into the hospital." Bernard said sounding like the doctor he was.

"Right, right, yes, of course," Steven said with a nod, forgetting about that.

Sidney reached into his pocket and pulled out an extra poke ball and handed it to Arinia. Arinia looked at it puzzled so Sidney said, "This is for you little one, I hope you like it."

Arinia took the poke ball and opened it and a Poochyena appeared in her lap. The Poochyena saw Arinia and climbed up onto her chest and began licking her face.

Arinia began to laugh. "Thank you, Sidney!"

Sidney smiled, "Glad it helped to make you smile."

Arinia returned the Poochyena to its poke ball and then stuffed the PokéBall under the pillow. Bernard began to wheel her inside the hospital just as Arinia began coughing again.

Steven began to walk down a hallway. "Come down here, I already got you a room."

Bernard nodded and followed him with the stretcher. Steven walked into a room and held the door open for the others.

"Mmm, daddy..." Arinia moaned.

"Whoa," Sidney said, "Big room, man."

Steven chuckled and turned around and ruffled his daughter's hair, "Yeah..."

"I guess you always save the best for your daughter." Drake said, with a smile.

Steven nodded, "She's the best treasure I have..."

Glacia smiled. "Well, we're leaving now, we'll leave you alone." She and the other Elite Four members left the room, leaving Steven, Mark, Arinia and Bernard.

Bernard pulled the covers back on the hospital bed and Steven lifted Arinia and moved her carefully to the hospital bed and covered her up. "There you go, baby..." Steven told her as he tucked her in.

Arinia coughed slightly then smiled. Steven smiled back and hugged Arinia until he heard her stomach growl.

"Hehe...I forgot you said you were hungry out there...I'm gonna call the hospital kitchen. What would you like?" Steven said, amazed he had forgotten.

"What's an option?" Arinia asked her dad tiredly.

"Pasta? Rice? Potatoes? Almost anything starchy," He replied.

"A baked potato with butter sounds good..." Arinia replied tiredly.

Steven picked up the phone behind him, dialed "001." "Hey," Steven said, "Could we get a baked potato with butter sent up to room 437? OK. Yeah. Good. Bye." He hung up.

"Daddy! Thanks..."

"Welcome." Steven replied.

There was a knock at the door. "Let me get that, baby." Steven said as he quickly kissed his little girl on the cheek and went to answer the door.

There was a chef there with a cart with a tray on it. "Is this 437?" He asked.

Steven nodded, "Yes, it is..."

The chef walked into the room and put the tray on Arinia's lap. "There you go!"

Arinia picked up her knife and fork and started to cut some bites from her buttery baked potato. Arinia ate some. "Mmm! This is great!"

"I'm glad. So what do you think of hospital food?" Her dad teased her.

"It's okay, but your cooking's better." Arinia replied between a bite of potato.

Steven laughed. "Thanks, Arinia!"

Arinia smiled just as the poke ball containing the Poochyena Sidney had given her opened and the Poochyena appeared and came over to Arinia and sat down beside her and licked her on her arm.

Mark jumped back. "Woah. I forgot you had that."

"Sidney gave me it..." Arinia replied

"Yeah, I know," Mark said with a nod, "I just forgot about it."

The Poochyena looked on Arinia's tray and saw a stray piece of potato and pawed at it and then ate it.

Arinia laughed. "Aw, that's cute..."

"Do you want to give it a name, sweetie?" Her dad asked.

"Casey." Arinia replied after thinking for a minute.

"Casey...?" Mark said, "Where did that come from?"

"I dunno... It just seemed like a good name." Arinia said shrugging before she went back to eating.

Casey barked once then hopped off the bed to go see Mark.

"Heya cutie..." Mark reached out his hand for Casey to sniff.

Casey sniffed Mark's hand then barked. Casey began to lick his hand.

Mark laughed. "That's cute!"

"Mark? Didn't you have a Mightyena at one point or another?" Arinia asked setting down her fork for a minute.

Mark blinked. "I still do. I forgot about that..." He pointed to the PokéBall at his belt.

"Is that what Casey might turn into eventually?" Arinia asked looking at Casey.

"At one point or another, yeah." Mark replied. "If you train it enough," He continued.

"Casey, here girl!" Arinia called softly.

"Pooch!" Casey ran over to Arinia happily.

Casey felt tired and laid down on Arinia's stomach. Arinia finished eating her potato and laid back, resting her head back into her pillow.

There was a knock at the door. "Let me get that..." Steven said going to open the door. He opened it. "Oh, hi Sidney. Come in!" He stepped to the side to allow Sidney to enter the room and walk up to Arinia and Mark.

Arinia looked up as Sidney came over to her bedside. "Oh, hi Sidney!" Arinia cried when she realized he was there.

"Hey," Sidney replied, "Awww, look at the Poochyena I gave you!" He pointed to it. Arinia looked. Casey was sound asleep on her stomach.

"By the way," Sidney said, "Did I tell you she's not fully grown yet? She's still a puppy."

"Wow, I thought she was small, but I had no idea she was still a puppy..." Arinia murmured softly before she started coughing.

Sidney looked at her, concerned for a moment, but she stopped coughing shortly afterward. "Yeah, it'll take a few months. Poochyenas grow fast. Later on, if you train hard, it'll evolve into a Mightyena."

Arinia put her hand to her throat, "Ugh... My throat hurts..."

Bernard tossed her a small pouch. "Here's some cough drops. I got them right from my office, so they're good. I've had 'em for a while, so here you go."

"Thanks Bernard..." Arinia unwrapped one and popped it in her mouth.

Casey smelled something, woke up and yipped. Arinia smiled and reached down a hand to pet it.

Sidney had a backpack on. He took it off and pulled open some Pokémon food, in case Casey was hungry. "So what did you name it?" Sidney asked holding out some poke chow to Casey.

"Casey." Arinia replied.

"Aw... Pretty name." Sidney said with a smile.

"Yeah, I think so too..." Mark replied, smiling. The poke ball containing Mark's Mightyena started to shake as it burst open revealing his Mightyena.

"Woah..." Bernard replied. "Is that a Mightyena?"

"Yeah, this one's mine." Mark said trying to hold it back.

"Eh, don't worry. That Mightyena looks like its been trained well. It won't hurt anyone." Sidney replied.

"Okay." Mark let go of it.

Mark's Mightyena saw Arinia and ran forward, jumped on her bed narrowly missing Casey and started to lick her face.

Arinia laughed. "Now I've got a Mightyena on me!"

Bernard chuckled as well. "What's its name, Mark?"

"Its name is Aquarius." Mark replied.

"Aquar-hey, wait a minute...that sounds like a Team Aqua name. Are you a member of Team Aqua?" Sidney asked.

Mark nodded, "Yeah..."

"That's the good team," Sidney asked, "Wow, that's awesome."

"Our team helped rescue Arinia from Team Magma, but I would have done it anyways since she's my girlfriend." Mark replied.

"Aw... That's so sweet of you..." Sidney replied.

Mark smiled. "Thanks..."

Casey was trying to climb onto Arinia's chest so she could lick Arinia's face too. "Pooch!"

"Ah, crud." Mark took out the PokéBall. "Return, Aquarius!" The red beam shot out and the Mightyena returned into the ball.

"It's a lot easier to breathe without a big Mightyena on top of ya..." Arinia muttered.

"Heh, yeah." Mark replied.

Casey barked and jumped onto Arinia's chest.

"She sure likes you!" Sidney said, with a laugh.

"I guess so..." Arinia said as Casey started to lick her face.

Casey yipped happily. "Pooch!" She continued to lick her face.

Mark laughed, "Aw! That's cute!"

Arinia began to pet Casey's head. She seemed to like it.

"You two will get along just fine." Sidney said with a smile and a slight laugh.

Mark took out a ball and bounced it. Casey barked and ran over to the ball and stared at it. Arinia smiled and laid back some more after pulling one of her blankets closer.

Mark rolled the ball towards the wall. Casey ran after it and brought it back to Mark. "Hey, she's pretty smart!" Mark replied.

"Casey's cute..." Arinia murmured before yawning.

"Heh, yeah she is." Mark replied. He looked at Arinia. It looked like she was falling asleep.

Sidney pulled her blankets up around her some more so she would stay warm, "Sleep well, Arinia, I'll get the others to come see you later..."

Arinia nodded and mumbled something as Sidney left the room, leaving just Mark, Steven, Arinia and the Poochyena, Casey.

Steven lay back in the chair he was sitting in. "Say, Mark, what level does a Poochyena evolve at? I never had one of those."

"Level 18..." Mark replied looking up.

Steven nodded. "Hmm...what level is Casey now, if you can tell?"

"Hmm... I think around level 5, but I'm not sure..." Mark replied.

Steven grinned. "I'll help Arinia train Casey if she wants to when she's better. Hey, it's the least I can do."

"I think she'll like that..." Mark replied.

"Well, in thirteen levels, Casey evolves." Steven said.

"Pooch..." Casey whined not wanting to evolve.

"It sounds like Casey doesn't want to evolve..." Mark replied.

Casey whined again and nodded and then jumped up on Arinia's bed and snuggled down beside her as if to say, "I won't be able to do this if I evolve."

"Actually, if Casey evolves, she'd be too big to do that," Mark said, "Yeah, she doesn't want to evolve. Hey, Casey, listen to me. You don't have to."

Casey looked happy, "POOCH!"

Steven covered his ears. "Jeez, I'm surprised that didn't wake up Arinia!"

Arinia shifted and wrapped her arm around Casey but didn't wake up.

"Awwww, that's cute..." Mark said.

Just then the door opened and Glacia entered.

Steven looked up. "Hi, Glacia. Arinia's sleeping."

"I see." Glacia held up a small package that contained a gift from her that was for Arinia.

Mark took the package. "What is it?"

"It's a Milotic doll and there's a poke ball there that contains a baby Spheal." Glacia replied.

Mark grinned. He placed the package next to Casey. "Don't touch it, OK? It's for Arinia." Casey nodded.

Casey looked at Arinia and then licked her cheek.

Arinia quivered. "Hmm?"

Casey yipped as if to say, "How was the sleep?" She licked Arinia's cheek again.

Arinia smiled and gathered up Casey in her arms and hugged her. Arinia noticed the package. "Hey, what the...?

"You have a visitor baby." Her dad informed her.

Arinia looked up. "Hi, Glacia!"

"Hey sweetie, I brought you something." Glacia told her.

Arinia put down Casey for a moment and picked up the package. She opened it. Inside was the Milotic doll and the Pokéball.

"Cute! Another doll, and a poke ball?" Arinia cried.

"Yep," Mark said, "Open the Pokéball."

Arinia did so and a Spheal appeared in her lap.

The Spheal bounced up and down in her lap. "Spheal! Spheal!"

Casey pounced at it in a playful fashion that seemed to say, "Let's play!"

Spheal bounced on to Casey's back. "Spheal!"

Arinia laughed, "Aw... That's so cute!"

Arinia looked up at Glacia, Mark and Steven. "If you've got anything else to give me, now's your chance!"

"I don't think there's anything else at the moment, baby." Steven replied. "Drake and Phoebe might have something for you, but I don't know."

Arinia nodded. "OK, thanks."

Just then the door opened and Drake, Sidney, and Phoebe entered. Shortly after them, Arinia's mother, Rosella, entered.

"Woah," Mark said, commenting on the bunch of people who just entered. "We've got a party going on now!"

Arinia laughed and Casey bounced on top of the Spheal to get to Arinia, "POOCH!"

"Who gave you the Spheal?" Sidney asked.

"Glacia." Arinia replied with a grin.

"Should have known..." He replied.

Casey jumped up and licked her on the nose before landing on the Spheal.

Drake smiled. "Aw..."

Drake stepped forward and handed her a Pokéball. "Another Pokémon for ya, open it up."

Arinia took it and opened it and a Bagon appeared in her lap. "Cute!" Arinia cried hugging it.

Drake handed her another ball. "This is another Pokémon, courtesy of Phoebe." She waved from the back of the group.

Arinia opened it and a Duskull appeared floating near her, "Duskull!"

Arinia simply stared at it. "Oooh..."

"Something wrong, baby?" Steven asked getting up.

"No..." Arinia said, "I just think that's cool..."

"That it floats instead of walking?" Phoebe asked her easing up closer to the bed so Arinia could see her better.

"Yeah..." Arinia replied.

Casey pounced at Arinia, "POOCH!"

Arinia hugged Casey and the Spheal. "Hey!"

Mark grinned. "What are you gonna name the Bagon, Spheal and the Duskull?"

"Kiara for the Spheal, Diana for the Bagon, and Amber for the Duskull." Arinia replied.

Mark nodded. "Nice names," he replied, "Casey, Kiara, Diana and Amber..."

"Yup!" Arinia said trying to hug several of her new pokemon at the same time except the Duskull since it was vapor-like.

Kiara spat a fine mist at the ceiling. "Spheal!"

"What's that?" Arinia asked.

Spheal bounced up and down. "It looked like a early form of Water Gun..." Glacia replied.

"Cool!" Arinia cried. She looked down onto her various pokemon laying on her lap. A warm smile came to her face.

"Pooch!" Casey sat up and licked Arinia's face.

Arinia laughed and rubbed Casey behind the ears, "You're cute..."

Sidney smiled. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

Casey barked and licked Arinia on the face and snuggled up against her before closing its eyes to try to get some puppy sleep.

Everyone who was present in the room made an "Aww..." sound at that.

"Mom? Is that you toward the back?" Arinia craned her neck to see if her mom was standing behind the Elite. She thought she had seen her mother, Rosella, but she wasn't completely sure.

She came to the front. "Yes, it's me, dear," she said with a warm smile.

"Mommy..." Arinia reached one of her hands out to her mom hoping that she'd come closer to hug her since she hadn't seen her in awhile.

Rosella hugged Arinia suddenly, being careful not to crush Casey.

"I missed you mom..." Arinia hugged her mom back hoping that she would stay near her. Arinia coughed again a little harder than she had earlier, but nonetheless made her put a hand to her throat since it hurt.

"Are you OK?" Rosella said, concerned.

"Arinia has pneumonia..." Mark replied looking at Arinia's mother's eyes. "Team Magma induced it through what they did to her..."

Rosella's embrace suddenly loosened in anger. "W-what?"

Arinia looked like she was going to cry, she didn't want to relive the details of what had happened recently.

Rosella looked her daughter in the eyes. "It'll be OK...don't worry..."

"The tranquilizers they gave her caused her to catch her pneumonia. If they had given her one more of them, there's a very good chance she could've died from an allergic reaction." Bernard told Arinia's mother quietly so Arinia couldn't hear.

Rosella's jaw dropped upon hearing the news. She said back, just as quietly, "You mean my baby could have been killed?"

Bernard nodded, "Yes, I'm afraid so... She was lucky that the other Team Aqua members managed to get her away from them before they could."

Rosella looked at Arinia and then back at Bernard, not saying a word.

Arinia laid her head back into her pillow suddenly thinking that Casey might have the right idea in getting some sleep. Arinia yawned and pulled the teddy bear and the plush doggie Mark had given her into her arms as she laid back down. Arinia knew that it was about dinnertime, but she was starting to get really tired.

Rosella let go and stepped back, allowing Arinia to rest.

"Mommy..." Arinia yawned after she had mouthed her mom's name and then yawned several time thereafter that as well before looking back at her mom.

"Yes, Arinia?" Rosella answered.

Arinia smiled at her mom and tried to answer but ended up yawning instead. It seemed that Arinia was way too tired to even talk much less stay awake.

"Just sleep, honey," Rosella said, "It's good for you!"

Arinia yawned and nodded and closed her eyes to do as her mom instructed, and within several minutes was sound asleep with Casey snuggled up against her and her other pokemon scattered around the corners of her bed while Arinia slept.

Sidney motioned to Rosella and everyone else in the room. "Let's go so she can sleep soundly..."

"I'd like to keep an eye on her though..." Mark said glancing back at Arinia. "Besides, Bernard and I would be breaking orders from our boss to not keep an eye on her..."

Bernard nodded. "Yeah, you guys can go if you want, but we have to stay. Archie's orders." Everyone else nodded as they left the room, leaving just Arinia, her Pokémon, Bernard and Mark.

"Arinia looks so cute curled up on her bed with all these pokemon clustered around her." Bernard commented to Mark after taking in the sight.

Mark smirked. "Hey, yeah, you're not kidding...that's adorable..."

Mark and Bernard continued to watch Arinia, hoping that nothing would happen while she slept, but only time would tell for sure as the future now looked rocky and extremely uncertain due to past events.


	14. Attack on the Hospital

Chapter 14

"Attack on the Hospital"

Arinia continued to sleep while Mark and Bernard watched her, not knowing what was going on or whether she was safe, as she was completely asleep and totally worn out and exhausted.

Mark sighed. "Well, there's one thing bad with this situation. It seems WAY too calm..."

"Yeah, you're right... Something's not right, and I bet my money we're about to be joined by unwelcome company..." Bernard said glancing around Arinia's room for signs of anything amiss.

Just as Bernard said that, there was a knock at the door. Mark answered it and it was Sidney looking very distressed.

"What's wrong!" Mark cried out upon seeing Sidney so distressed.

"Some Team Magma members were located in this hospital," Sidney said, "I saw one just a few minutes ago!"

Bernard looked at Mark. "Dang it...I can guarantee you that they're coming for Arinia..."

As if to prove him right, the door burst open and Team Magma members flowed into Arinia's room completely taking Mark, Sidney, and Bernard by surprise. A Team Magma General made his way to Arinia's bedside and scooped her up into his arms while the other grunts and Admins made a distraction and quickly left with her leaving the others to hold down the fort temporarily.

Mark released his Mightyena. "GO! Follow them!" Aquarius barked and followed Team Magma with Mark, Sidney and Bernard chasing close behind.

Arinia, who was within the arms of the Team Magma General didn't stir from her peaceful sleep, she seemed completely exhausted and too tired to even defend herself from potential capture.

The General who was carrying Arinia shook her slightly. "Is she dead or just extremely tired?" He checked for a heartbeat and amazingly enough found one. "She's alive. I'm going with the extremely tired, I found a heartbeat." He smirked evilly and kept running.

Mark and Co. continued the chase but it wasn't really helping at all. Team Magma proved very fast.

Most of the Team Magma agents were already out the door and the General holding Arinia was very close.

"We have to hurry! We're losing her!" Mark cried trying to run faster.

The General exited the hospital and shut the door, locking it in the process. A few Grunts then threw several large very heavy branches in front of the door, blocking it.

Mark ran at the door trying to get it open, but nothing happened as the Team Magma grunts had blocked the entrance to the door so that they could make a clean escape with Arinia.

Sidney pounded his fist against the door. "Crap...they got away!" Mark kicked the door in anger as well.

Bernard looked frightened, they were cut off from being able to leave the hospital to stop Arinia's kidnapping. There appeared that there was nothing more he could do, and this time he wasn't there to save her. Bernard was afraid now, as he didn't know what would happen to Arinia once Maxie discovered she was still very sick.

Bernard sighed. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know..." Mark moaned. "I don't want to lose her, but unless there's another way out of here we're going to..."

Sidney piped up with, "Unfortunately, things don't work that way. This is the only way out of this place."

Mark sank to the ground, he seemed to be sobbing and muttering the words "I failed you Arinia" over and over under his breath.

Bernard put his hand on Mark's back. "No... You didn't fail Arinia...we all did..." Sidney nodded, with a grim look on his face.

Mark nodded but was still upset. Mark sighed before he said, "We must get her back, I don't know what'll happen to her since she's sick!"

"One thing, though, Mark..." Bernard asked, "How EXACTLY do we tell Archie this?"

"We tell him the truth, that we got caught by surprise and will go after them to retrieve her if he'll allow it." Mark replied grimly.

Sidney nodded. "Yep, do you two want to go the Team Aqua base and, er, break the news?" he asked.

"We should, or we might just want to call our boss and see what he wants to do, he's usually pretty understanding." Mark said looking up trying to figure out what to do.

Bernard nodded and took out his cell phone. "Hold on, I got you covered. I'll call him right now and ask."

Bernard flipped open the phone and quickly dialed. The line rang twice and then Archie picked up on the other end. "Hello?"

"Uh, boss, it's me Bernard, we have some bad news..." Bernard said thinking it was better to take the plunge and get it over with.

Archie nodded. "Well, what is it?"

"We were caught by surprise by a Team Magma attack and they managed to grab Arinia and get away with her..." Bernard sounded disappointed in his own abilities.

Archie sighed in a tone that clearly said "not again..." "Well, gah, that's DEFINATELY not good at all. Listen, I'll send out some men to look for them and you do to, under my orders. Where are you guys anyway?"

"We're in Evergrande at the hospital there where Team Magma pretty much barricaded us in..." Bernard replied answering Archie's question.

"Is there another way out? Can you break a window?" Archie asked.

Sidney looked around and shook his head and muttered something about how these glass windows wouldn't break.

Bernard shook his head. "No, I doubt it. These windows look very thick...impossible to break..."

Mark sighed and muttered a "what are we supposed to do" under his breath.

Archie nodded. "I'm sending a few Admins there now to free you guys. Just...hang on for a little while."

Thanks boss, we appreciate it, we're sorry this happened..." Bernard replied before taking a deep sigh.

"No problem," Archie said, "It's one of those things you can't avoid. Well, I have to go now and take care of some business and tell those Admins to be on their way. Bye."

"Okay, thanks again, bye." Bernard ended the call and put his cell phone away before looking at Mark and Sidney and said, "Archie said he was going to send someone to let us of here, but he said it could be a little while..."

Mark nodded. "Yeah, thank god for Archie...then we'd really be stuck..."

"Wait..." Sidney said, "I just had a thought. Did Team Magma take anyone else?"

Mark shook his head, "I don't think so..."

Bernard nodded. "Yeah, I don't think so either. They just came for Arinia..."

Sidney sighed, "I don't get why they want Steven's little girl... What did she ever do to them!"

Bernard sighed. "What DID she ever do to them, I wonder..."

"She's always been a friend to Team Aqua, that very well could have a reason they've targeted her..." Mark replied after thinking for a minute.

"That would do it," Sidney said. "Hey, wait a minute, Bernard, weren't you Team Magma's former doctor?"

"Yeah, I was, but I don't think I can just stroll back in there now claiming I was wrong even if its not true just to save Arinia, it could probably put her in more danger I believe." Bernard said.

"That's a good point," Mark said, "I was going to suggest that, but that could do more harm than good."

Bernard nodded, "Don't think I haven't thought of it, but Maxie could kill her if we do that..."

There was suddenly a loud crash at the door. "Mark! Bernard! You in there?" A voice shouted.

Mark jumped and turned to the door, "Yes! We're in here!"

"Right, good, this is the rescue crew Archie sent. Hold on, let us clear these huge branches." There were sounds of scraping and loud thuds of the branches being moved.

"Okay, great, the sooner we can get out of here the sooner we can pursue Team Magma to retrieve Arinia." Mark replied sounding worried.

The door suddenly cracked and shook. "Stand back, we're busting this thing down!"

Mark, Sidney, and Bernard backed up so they wouldn't get hurt when the door was knocked down. The door suddenly came down with an enormous crash. Three Team Aqua Admins were standing in the doorway with their Mightyenas who had helped to take the door down.

The three Team Aqua Admins returned their Mightyenas. "Whew, are you two ok - oh my god! Is that Sidney of the Elite Four?" One of the Admins exclaimed.

Sidney smiled, "Yeah, that'd be me, how do you do?"

"Good! But, uh, yeah, the real issue here is Arinia." He said. "Come on, let's see if we can go after Team Magma now." Another Admin replied.

"I'm gonna stay here, though." Sidney said, "I have to inform Steven and the rest of the Elite Four. I'll catch up with you later if I can."

Mark nodded, "That'll work, hopefully we'll be able to recover Arinia without too much trouble."

Bernard nodded as well. "Later then." He, Mark and the Admins dashed out the door in search of Arinia.


End file.
